


Anything Can Change

by stockingstripes



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! - All Media Types, Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, F/M, In which my girls are ACTUALLY HERE, Kinda, OC, Series Rewrite, i just want my kids to be somewhat okay, purely indulgent
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-04
Updated: 2019-05-24
Packaged: 2019-10-03 21:10:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 30,243
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17291501
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stockingstripes/pseuds/stockingstripes
Summary: Action dueling was born when the generation of matter was implemented as a feature into solid vision. Fields, monsters, and duelists become one during these duels, and the crowd goes crazy for them… but letting the desires of the crowd corrupt you could lead to devastation and destruction of world-ending proportions...I wonder...The way things have ended up has left you a bit... unsatisfied, no?Surely those who have been lost can be saved...A better way must be out there...





	1. A Humble Beginning

**Author's Note:**

> Hello all! I've been in the process of writing this since the ending of Arc-V left me disappointed and I've been wanting to write a Yu-Gi-Oh oc fic since like 2010. I figured since I was writing this I might as well go all in and change a bunch of stuff and develop my own character in the process ^u^! (I just want these kids to end up happy!) The changes will be kinda small at first but there will be bigger ones before the synchro arc.
> 
> Happy reading!

_Action dueling was born when the generation of the matter was implemented as a feature into solid vision. fields, monsters, and duelists become one during these duels, and the crowd goes crazy for them… but letting the desires of the crowd corrupt you could lead to devastation and destruction of world-ending proportions..._

_Under no circumstances must anyone else end up like that… like him… It can't happen again._

_Yui… Yui… You have to wake up, Yui…!_

* * *

 

"...Sakaki Yui!"  
  
Her head shot up from the desk with a yelp as a voice echoed from across the classroom. A brown haired man was calling her from the front of the classroom. Yui, still a bit shaken from the voice in her dream, looked down at her desk breathing a little unevenly.

_‘What the hell?’_

A hand lightly tapped her shoulder, pulling Yui from the thoughts. She turned her head a bit and caught the sight of a blonde girl with lilac highlights and pink eyes pointing past the both of them. Yui turned back around and looked up at the teacher who’d been calling her. His dark brown eyes were narrowed at her in a disapproving glare, which her own sharp yellow eyes shot back at him, “Did you have a nice nap, Miss Sakaki?”

A few students in the class snorted and a couple actually laughed at Yui getting caught sleeping. She quickly shifted her attention to the other students who mostly clammed up from her glare. She clicked her tongue in annoyance at the fact that this grown man actually decided to interrupt his entire lesson and walk all the way back there just to complain about her sleeping in his painfully boring math class, "Not really, Mr. Saito. Desks aren't exactly comfortable."  
  
Mr. Saito let out an aggravated sigh, "Miss Sakaki, These materials will be on the next exam. For your own sake, you should pay attention and keep the snoozing to a minimum. Actually... Since you obviously know enough about these problems to sleep in my class, how about you take a crack at one of them," Saito had the fakest possible smile on his face, probably assuming that she wouldn't know how to solve the problem. Yui rolled her eyes at the girls ogling him and after a bit of hesitation, reached out for the chalk. She didn’t have much of a choice  
  
At that moment, the bell signalling for the class to be over rang, causing her to let out the small breath she didn't she was holding, "Well... that's the end of class. As a reminder to those who may not have heard during class, complete pages fifteen through seventeen by next class. No late assignments will be accepted." Yui aimed a glare at Saito for the obvious jab at her and gathered her things. She made a mental note of the homework and brought her bag over her shoulder.  
  
The girl who’s seat was behind Yui's gave her a thumbs-up and a bright grin as the two of them left the room together. Her hair was tied into two buns, the remainder of loose hair bounced a bit as she walked, "You sure were lucky back there with the bell. Man, those pricks were laughing at you like any of them were paying attention. I hate. Why were you sleeping in class, anyway? Isn’t that usually up Yuya’s alley? What were you up to that got you so tired today?" She grinned and her eyes were half-lidded as she pried for details.  
  
Yui's face mimicked her chatty companion's expression, "I’m not as interesting as you like to imply, Nino. I wasn't even the one doing something special last night, speaking of Yuya.”

Nino gasped in excitement and grabbed Yui’s shoulders, shaking her and hopping up and down, “Did Yuya figure out how to pendulum summon?! Oh my god? Oh my god! Oh my god!! Why didn’t you tell me sooner?! You could’ve texted me last night?!”

  
“St- Stop shaaaaking m-me, Nino! I know you’re crushing on him but-”  
  
The blonde quickly let go of her and blushed furiously, “I-I don't have a crush on him! I’m just really excited! That pendulum summon was so cool, ya know! It’s not like I was asking about him in particular. Seriously!”

Yui hummed to herself as she watched Nino flounder at the mention of her affection for Yuya. It was painfully obvious and actually a bit surprising how desirable Yuya seemed to be among the ladies. Unfortunately, her brother wasn’t the sharpest knife in the kitchen when it came to romance, "He figured out how to do it late last night, actually. Like, so late, it was early. Besides, I assume you'll be coming to You Show later to see it?"

  
She wilted at the mention, “I really want to. But... my professor told my dad that I've been skipping my weekend XYZ summoning classes, so I gotta go to LDS for supplementary lessons today… Ughhh, I really wanted to see it!" Yui sighed a bit, disappointed that her friend couldn't come over and suggested that Nino quit skipping classes to avoid punishment. The two of them were approaching the exit when Nino said, "As prestigious as LDS is, I like your school better. It’s comfy and LDS people tend to be snobby and uptight."  
  
"I've heard. Oh, looks like Yuya and Yuzu are out already." Yui waved her hand to the couple to catch their attention as she and Nino walked towards them and noticed three more people standing with them. A small red-haired girl and two boys the same age, one with green hair who’s name was Futoshi and one with blue hair, a newer boy named Tatsuya. They were none other than the youngest students of You Show Duel School, "Oh, the kids are here, too and... Wait- who is that?"  
  
Nino's eyes moved from Yuya and Yuzu to the children of You Show and finally rested on the blonde plucking a suction cup dart from Yuya's head. Her face fell, "Oh boy..."

"...I only got to see it on TV, but your duel against Strong Ishijima was so amazing! Especially that Pendulum summoning you did. Those- what did you call them? Pendulum cards? Only extremely special and talented people should use exclusive cards like that." The blonde boy seemed to be kissing up to Yuya because of his pendulum cards, which made Yui's face screw up.

“...and just _what_ is that supposed to mean?” Yui approached the group with her arms folded glaring suspiciously at the blonde boy.  
  
"Big Sister Yui!" The three younger kids, exclaimed before Ayu gave her a hug, alerting the rest to Yui and Nino's arrival. Yui ruffled her hair and brought her attention back to everyone.  
  
"Hi, you guys!" Nino Chirped.

The blonde boy addressed Yui with a flair that could only be artificial, “Hello, the names Sawatari and I only meant that people with rare cards like those must be special and talented.”

Yui’s glare was zeroed in on the boy, making him sweat just a bit. He had a smug air around him that made his approaching Yuya feel malicious and insincere. It was bad enough that people were coming to You Show in droves only to leave immediately when they couldn't see Yuya’s pendulum summoning. Tatsuya was the only one who stuck around. Yuya was often too nice for his own good and Yui wasn't going to let anyone take advantage of her brother.

"Yuya? Weren't we about to head over to You Show? We should go before it gets late." Yuzu caught on to Yui's intentions and reminded Yuya that he was supposed to be showing them his pendulum summoning.  
  
Sawatari gave a sly look, "I have a much better stage if you want to show off pendulum summoning. How about the LDS center court at around five? I have it reserved."  
  
The seven duelists-in-training were shocked and Yui was becoming increasingly annoyed at Sawatari for trying to lure Yuya and the others away. Of course, the others would want to see an LDS court. She wanted to see LDS on the inside as well, but the whole situation didn't feel right. Sawatari showing off his LDS pin and bragging that his father was going to be the next mayor definitely didn’t help her opinion of him.  
  
Nino's naturally cheerful demeanor had already melted into a suspicion similar to Yui's the more Sawatari spoke, "What're you up to, Shingo?" Sawatari kept a friendly smile on his face, despite Nino's familiar use of his first name.  
  
"I have no idea what you're talking about, _Hanasaki_ . I just want to see a pendulum summon up close and where better than an LDS court." Sawatari's offer was successfully luring Yuya and the kids away from the idea of going back to You Show and it was making Yui glare harder at Sawatari. She looked to Yuzu and Nino for some rationale before things got out of hand. Maybe, if all three of them protested it, they'd get the others to decline Sawatari's suspicious offer. Luckily, Yuzu looked understandably peeved at the fact that the kids wanted to see the pendulum summon at LDS instead of their own home court.  
  
"We can still do it at our You Show. You know, _our_ school..." Yuzu mumbled.

The kids used their puppy dog eyes to convince Yuzu to let them go and she eventually caved to their begging under the condition that she go with them to check out the competition. Now that all of them were going to LDS, Yui couldn't just go home. She’d have to keep her eyes on him, in case he tried anything funny.

The kids, In their excitement, dragged Yuya up to the front of the group, while Yuzu tagged along behind them behind them.  
  
Yui, ever the wary, lagged behind a bit to keep an eye on Sawatari while Nino walked alongside her. She heard him mutter something behind her but, she wasn't close enough to hear exactly what he said. Her head swung around at him, making Sawatari flinch back a bit. She narrowed her eyes at him and signed with her fingers that she watching him. Sawatari raised his hands in defense and gave Yui a grin, feigning innocence. She let out a huff and turned back to the others, "Hey, Nino. How do you know Sawatari?"  
  
Nino took a second to consider her answer, “Our parents have been friends for, like ever. So, I've known him since we were little. He wasn't always this pompous, I promise. But, get this, when we were way younger he used to cry and pee his pants, like all the time," She looked back at him with a grin, being especially loud with her last statement. His face became red with anger and embarrassment and looked away, choosing not to dignify that with a response.

* * *

"Welcome to LDS!"

  
The electronic sliding doors opened to reveal the architecturally modern lobby of LDS. Rather than a school, it looked more like a high-end mall with many escalators and open spaces. The youngest of the group's eyes sparkled in excitement and wonder at the state of the art facilities. As they walked, the halls were filled with students varying in age, dueling and training together, "Leo Duel School, LDS for short, as you can tell, is a duel school run by the Leo Corporation. Of course, it's invitation only. The best in facilities, lectures, and the curriculum is their motto," Yui closely examined everything around her as Sawatari smugly gave them the tour of LDS.  
  
"Wooow~! So, basically, it has all the cool stuff our school doesn't!" Ayu summarized cheerfully. Futoshi and Tatsuya agreed, much to Yuzu's dismay.  
  
Yui and Nino cringed at the harshness, _Jeez, so much for a filter..._  
  
Yuzu huffed behind them, "Well sorry, we're just a run-down school!"

“It’s pretty unfair to compare our normal sized school to this behemoth, dontcha think?” Yui said, placing her hands on Ayu and Futoshi’s shoulders.

  
Nino looked down at her phone and bristled at the time, “Oh, crap! Well, I'd really love to stick around, but unfortunately, I have a class to attend," She announced, clapping her hands a single time, “I’ll come around to see you guys later if you’re still here!” The others waved goodbye to her and the tour of LDS's basics began.

At the end of the tour, Yui and Yuya were examining a poster with information pertaining to LDS’s curriculum, the latter also pointing out the flaws of their own duel school, "They do have a lot of stuff we don't have, though. They even cover specific summons, not just the basics."

Yui raised an eyebrow and pinched Yuya’s cheek hard for being so inconsiderate of Yuzu’s feelings about You Show, “Yuya, if you really wanted to learn Fusion or something, you could learn that out of books. Or, through practice. How do you think people learned dueling before organized schools were were a thing?”

“Ow! I guess...”

Yuya rubbed the red mark on his cheek, turned his attention back to the poster and listed off the courses they offered when a boy with light blue hair stopped and looked back at them at the mention of LDS's fusion course. He quickly shifted his attention back to his original path.

_Huh… What’s he looking at?_

Yui glanced back at the boy's retreating form and shrugged, "Besides, LDS is funded by a huge company. It’d be stupid to compare our school to this empire," Yui pulled him back to their group by his ear when Yuzu called to them. Sawatari pointed down a nearby hall directing them to the center court, indicating that their little tour was over.

 _God, it's huge!_  
  
As much as she hated to admit it, Yui found herself impressed at the size and grandeur of the arena. It made her actually want to duel here.  
  
Four boys wearing smug looks and the same school uniform as them swaggered over to the group. Sawatari introduced them as Yuya's fans and suggested that he show them his pendulum cards. There was the obvious red flag Yui was waiting for since they’d entered the building. She firmly placed her hand on Yuya's shoulder from behind. Sawatari began to sound like he was trying to pressure him, "Wouldn't it be better to see them in a duel instead. No need to actually show them the cards, right? Who knows what could happen." She directed an accusing glare in their direction, making the friendliness in Sawatari's face falter a bit.  
  
"But, if no one sees the actual cards, then how will people know if Yuya didn’t cheat? It won't be long and besides, it’s not like you have anything to hide, right?"

“Hold on,” The gray haired girl raised a hand as Sawatari tried to move closer to Yuya. If Yuya was too nice to tell the boy to shove off, she would. A trait they got from their father and mother respectively, according to their mother, “How could Yuya cheat on TV with a state of the art system designed to be perfect?”

Yuzu joined Yui in her confrontation with the boys and stood on the other side of Yuya, “Are you trying to say that his cards are fake? Yui’s right, Yuya couldn't have done that! He wouldn't have either!”

The kids joined in as well with chants telling of his innocence.

 

“Big brother isn’t a cheater!”

“Yeah, we saw his duel and it totally wasn’t cheating!”

“Dueling that gives me shivers like that can’t be cheating!”

"Awh, guys~"

 

Sawatari’s facial expression melted into an annoyed glare, before settling on a smug smile, “That’s what you, his friends and sister, say. But, you can never be too sure. Who’s to say that all that time he took to reach the stadium he didn't do something to cheat?” He directed his attention to Yuya and put on a carefree grin, “If you didn’t cheat then I’m sure you wouldn’t mind just showing them to us, your fans. You wouldn’t want to let us down, would you? It’ll only be for a second then we’ll give them right back.”

“I guess... they just want to see them for a sec. Besides, I don't want anyone to think I cheated and they’re right in front of us, Yui. I’m sure it’ll be fine.”

His persuasion skills were better than Yui thought. Yuya saw the sense in showing off the cards to prove he didn't cheat. With a bit of hesitation, he pulled the cards out and Sawatari snatched them away to show his friends, who excitedly gushed over the cards.  
  
Yui's eyes widened when Yuya let Sawatari take his cards and turned to him, "Yuya! Why would you do that?! That was so stupid!"  
  
"He just wanted to _see_ the cards, Sis. It’ll be fine. It’s not like they can go anywhere."  
  
"You should ask for them back, Yuya." Yuzu suggested.  
  
"Now we can't have that, these aren't your cards, right?" Sawatari said in response to one of his goons wanting the cards, "After all, these cards are going to be added to my collection." The group was taken back by his brazen declaration.  
  
"That's why you called us out here?!" Yuzu exclaimed angrily.  
  
Yui groaned, seriously wishing that she'd made more of a ruckus about it in the first place, maybe then they wouldn't be in this mess.  
  
Sawatari snorted, "Not only for these but, since I have them now... How's about I try them out? You all wanted to see a Pendulum summon, right? I reserved the center court after all," He approached the group as he equipped his duel disk. He stood directly in front of Yuya and pulled his goggles back and let go, snapping them into his face. Yuya grabbed his face and fell over writhing in pain, "What's wrong don't want to duel-"  
  
Before he could finish his taunt, Yui reeled back and Sawatari’s girlish scream echoed in the arena. He fell back, holding his cheek in pain. He looked up at his assailant in shock and anger. How dare this girl put her hands on him! He was Sawatari Shingo!

Yui reached down and tried to retrieve Yuya's cards but was roughly pushed away by Sawatari before she could, "Hand over his cards right now and apologize! You’re scum and you have no right to use them," Sawatari didn't make another move beyond keeping her from his duel disk. Her sharply angered gaze matched his. Yui already hated overly smug people like Sawatari, but hurting her brother was the last straw. Had she not left her duel disk and cards at home, she would have challenged him to a duel herself.

  
"Wait, Yui, calm down," Yuya stood up, rubbing his face and place a firm hand on her upper arm. Yui may have been an even tempered girl usually, but if the wrong button was pushed his slightly younger sister could boil over with no stopping. It was always hard to get her to settle down when she got like that.

“No, Yuya! You’re too calm! Aren’t you angry that he’s treating you like that?! He stole your special cards and snapped your goggles in your face! You can’t expect me to just let him do that with some kind of _physical punishment,_ ” Yui was tightly clenching her fists.

Sawatari looked away from the siblings and spoke to the voice coming out of his duel disk before grinning smugly at Yui who turned her heated glare back to him. She stepped towards him with every intention of punching him again. At the snap of his fingers, two of Sawatari's goons grabbed Yui and covered her mouth before she could take another swing at him and the other two grabbed Yuzu and the kids. This is when Yuya perked up, "Hey, stop! Let them go!"

  
Sawatari, feeling incredibly satisfied with himself, grinned at Yuya and placed a hand on his chest stopping him from going after them, "Don't worry about them. They’re just leverage for our duel." He tossed a deck of cards at his feet, "These trash cards will suit you perfectly." Yuya kneeled down and solemnly collected the discarded cards. Something inside him ached for the innocent cards being treated that way, "Why would you do something like this?"

Yui bit the hand boy who was holding her mouth causing him to let go of her, "You guys are the only trash here!" her angry taunted echoed from across the field. The other boy holding her locked her arms around her back. They seemed to find it necessary to be especially rough with her since she punched their boss. Though that didn't mean she couldn't speak and after she'd bit one of them, they knew better than to try and cover her mouth again. How dare he call her brother trash? How dare he call those cards trash?

"Besides, any card can be useful someone with skill and talent uses it properly. Unlike you, jerkhole!" Sawatari growled angrily at her and decided to ignore her taunting, turning his attention back to Yuya. He would deal with her afterward.

  
"I'll decide the field. That which imprisons feeble princesses, rise up here and now! Action Field on! Dark Town's Prison Tower!" A tower grew from underneath Yui and the others and began to rise as the Solid Vision caused the duel field to shift and change. Yuya began hopping on the roofs as they grew, trying to get close enough to save them. But alas, he was separated by a wide river and couldn't reach them.  
  
“This is so dangerous! What is his problem!?,” Yui moved in front of Yuzu and the kids when they started voicing their fearful concerns, "Yuya! Don't worry about us! Go win this duel!" She herself could feel her stomach churn from being trapped so dangerously high with Yuzu and the kids. Despite this, she steeled herself and turned back to her friends, "Let’s keep far from the edge. When Yuya wins this duel, the field will just disappear." The kids nodded and Yuzu gave a smile, albeit a nervous one.  
  
"Y-Yui's right! Yuya just has to win this duel and everything will be fine."

_But seriously, why’s LDS allowing this?! No way this state-of-the-art school doesn't have security cameras in the center court! Why isn’t anyone stopping this?!_

  
Down below the duel was about to begin. Yuya looked down at one of the cards Sawatari discarded and put it in his deck, he'd show Sawatari that he was wrong. Of course, that would be after he got his sister and friends out of danger. Sawatari stood before him, "Looks like you're finally up to do this. I suppose you just needed the proper incentive. Now let's get to it, shall we!?"  
  
"Duelists locked in battle! Kicking against the earth and dancing in the air alongside their monsters! They storm through this field! Behold! This is the newest and greatest evolution of dueling!" Sawatari and his lackeys called out the traditional chant that duelists commonly chants, signaling that a duel was about to begin.  
  
"ACTION... DUEL!" Cards suddenly appeared and scattered across the field.  
  
Yuya took initiative and dashed forward, summoning his Entermate: Whip Viper. He used the purple circus snake to swing from building to building to get closer to the bridge before ending his turn. Sawatari watched in amusement as he began his own turn with a draw. He drew one of the cards needed to pendulum summon, but before he could even call its name out a voice from his duel ordered him to wait. Sawatari instead summoned his Lightning Board and headed off towards Yuya, who was desperately running along the roofs.  
  
Yuya finally reached the bridge there was an action card waiting for him, but when he picked it up it was an Action Trap card. The super-sized pool balls illustrated on the card appeared on both sides of the bridge and began rolling towards Yuya. He jumped on top of one while his Whip Viper was flattened under the giant balls,

"Breakshot lowers the ATK of one monster by 900," Whip Viper gained his 3-dimensional form with 900 fewer attack points, "What a fool. Action cards aren't only beneficial. There are trap cards among them as well. Your luck must be trash too if you managed to pick one up. More importantly, the friends you were supposed to be saving are in even more danger now." The balls rammed into the bridge, making the tower tilt dangerously to the side. Yuzu and Yui grabbed for Ayu and Futoshi, who happened to be on the lower side of the building before they could fall and pulled them back up.

  
Sawatari took advantage of Yuya being distracted and ordered an attack on Whip Viper. Yuya dashed towards another Action Cards that was, unfortunately, another Action Trap that lowered Whip Viper's ATK by 400. The combination of Whip Viper losing attack points and Sawatari's attack cost him 1000 life points. The effect of the trap card formed into a large white ball and destroyed the bridge on the right of the tower, "And I end my turn, much like how it's about to be the end for that tower. I thought you were going to save them, not put them in more danger."  
  
As the tower continued to shake Yui and Yuzu were trying their best to make sure none of them got close enough to the edge to fall, of course, that became increasingly difficult as the shaking didn't seem to be stopping anytime soon, "Don't worry, you guys. No one's going to fall," Yuzu said, trying to calm the terrified kids and herself down. Yui, on the other hand, was furious that the duel wasn't being stopped by anyone. She personally didn't believe that Sawatari and his friends were smart enough to knock out any kind of cameras in LDS.  
  
"No! I have to save them! It's my turn! Draw! If I can't get there by land, I summon Entermate: Water Strider!" He jumped onto the bug and skated along the water towards the bottom of the tower.  
  
Sawatari began his turn and drew a spell card, "I release my level 1 Lightning board and activate the magic card, Release Trade! Then, I add a monster one level higher than the one I released to my hand! I add the level 5 monster to my hand!"  
  
Yuya looked on in dismay as his monster was being used by Sawatari, "Magician of Astromancy, but you can't Pendulum summon with just one of them!"  
  
Sawatari chuckled smugly, "That's why I keep telling you, I'm special! Magician of Chronomancy has been in my hand from the start. A person like me only comes once in a lifetime! Only I’m suited to use super rare cards like these! Lady luck of the draw loves me!" His chuckle became a cackle and died down at the voice from his duel disk telling how to set the Pendulum cards, "I... I, using the Scale One Magician of Astromancy and the scale Eight Magician of Chronomancy, set the Pendulum Scale!" The words Pendulum lit up on his duel disk and the two magicians rose on either side of him, "PENDULUM SUMMON! Level Five: Power Darts Shooter, Level Six Rocket Darts Shooter, and Level Seven: Ultimate Darts Shooter!"  
  
Yui looked down at Sawatari in shock, "How? How does he know how to use them?" There was no way his boasting was true. Only herself, Yuya, Yuzu and Gongenzaka knew what to do and what to say in order to Pendulum Summon.  
  
Sawatari looked in awe at his monsters, "Yes! This is amazing! Pendulum Summoning is the best! No one can stop me now! Sakaki Yuya! Now that I have Pendulum summoning I'm done with you! Battle! I attack Entermate: Water Strider with Power Darts Shooter!"  
  
Yuya, in alarm, ordered Water Strider out of the way of the attack and noticed an action card floating on the water. He reached for it but was reminded of his other unlucky picks, "No, it might be another trap! I activate Water Strider's effect. When it becomes a target of an attack it can change to defense position and negate one attack!" Sawatari continued his attack with Rocket Darts Shooter, knocking Yuya into the water and his final attack from Ultimate Darts Shooter knocked Yuya's life points down to 600.

Yuya eye shut tight, _Pendulum summoning isn't only my power... Why can a horrible guy him use it? Yui and the others are in danger and I can't do anything... Dad... What should I do...?_

  
"When you feel like crying, laugh. When you let fear get ahold of you, you won't be able to do a thing. If you want to win gather your courage and press forward."  
  
Yuya sudden started laughing out loud, using the words of wisdom his father bestowed upon him in the past to gain his composure. Yui smiled a bit, relieved that he'd found enough comfort to continue the duel, "My turn, draw! I summon Block Spider!" The monster Sawatari cruelly discarded appeared on the field much to his amusement. He once again insulted the low-level monster and Yuya for summoning it in attack position, despite its lack of attack points. Yuya merely smiled, "Thanks to the card you threw away, I got another chance. As long as Block Spider is on the field, you can't attack any other monster!"  
  
Sawatari remained confused as to what Yuya was planning, "He's the only monster on your side of the field! Just what do you think you're doing?"  
  
Yuya held up a spell card, "This. I change my level one Block Spider to Defence position and activate the Spell Card: Mimiclay. It can mimic the appearance and effect of a monster on the field and I'm having it copy Block Spider! When Mimiclay's effect is activated its special summoned as a monster!"  
  
"Ha, I was wondering what you were doing but all you did was double your garbage cards." Sawatari finally realized what was happening, "Wait, now I get it..."  
  
The second Block Spider made its web appear, "That's right. When you have two Block Spiders their webs will protect each other. Your monster can’t attack anymore. I set two cards and end my turn!"  
  
Sawatari growled in anger, "Doing something I couldn't predict...? My turn! Draw!" After looking over his cards and the field, he began laughing, "I really am chosen by the cards! I activate the Spell Card: Cricket Close. By negating two Spell cards on the field, I can negate the effect of one of your cards! Pendulum cards can be used as magic cards!"  
  
Yui couldn't hold back her shocked exclamation, "They can?!!" She'd nearly lost her balance and Yuzu managed to pull her back in time. How could he have possibly known something like that? It was impossible for Sawatari to know how the cards worked more than Yuya or herself. How was he doing this? Had someone been spying on them last night?  
  
"I target my two Pendulum Cards, Magician of Astromancy and Magician of Chronomancy to negate the effect of your Mimiclay! When Mimiclay loses its effect, it's destroyed and sent to the graveyard! With this, Block Spider is back to being a trash card with 100 DEF and your life points are at a mere 600. I'll bury you along with your trash cards!"  
  
I activate the Quick-Play Spell Card: Draw Muscle! When there is only one monster on my field with a DEF of 1000 or less, I can draw one card, and if the card is a Monster Card its DEF can be added to the monster on the field!" Yuya drew a monster from his deck which just happened to be the Pendulum Monster Kaleido Scorpion, which had 2300 DEF. With that amount added to Block Spider's DEF, he now had 2400 DEF, "Furthermore, because of Draw Muscles effect Block Spider cannot be destroyed this turn!"  
  
The kids expressed relief in Yuya's recapture of the duel.  
  
"Wow! Now Sawatari can't attack this turn!"  
  
"I knew Big Brother Yuya could do it!"  
  
Sawatari shook in anger, "So unexpected! Heh, just kidding. Did you actually think I'd care about something like that? Turns out, I've got a way to end this duel right now! God, being this skilled is a blessing and a curse! But, thanks to that Spell card everything will go just as I planned. I release Power Darts Shooter and Rocket Darts Shooter in order to power up Ultimate Darts Shooter! Because of Power Darts Shooter's effect, Ultimate Darts Shooter's ATK goes up by 600." Ultimate Dart's Shooter's ATK became 3000, "Also, because of Rocket Darts Shooter's effect, whenever Ultimate Darts Shooter attacks a monster in Defense Position whose DEF is lower than it's ATK, It inflicts the difference as Battle Damage to its controller. It'll inflict 600 piercing damage and with this, I'll be ending this duel."  
  
Yuzu was visibly worried about the outcome of the duel, "Oh no! Does this mean Yuya could lose?"  
  
"No. Yuya's got this. Just give him a second to calm down," Yui wasn’t worried about him not winning the duel. She had faith in her brother's abilities. He may have acted like a clown sometimes, but Yui knew he was talented.  
  
"Battle Phase! I attack Block Spider with Ultimate Darts Shooter! ULTIMATE FULL SHOOT!" The dart bullet casing fired from Darts Shooter's gun and split off into multiple mini dart missiles. The explosion caused the bridge to collapse, throwing Yuzu, Yui and the kids off of it.  
  
"I've been waiting for this! I activate my Trap Card: Empty Fishing! When I receive battle damage I can halve it! Then I can target two cards on the field with negated effects, and add them to my hand! Magician of Chronomancy and Magician of Astromancy are added to my hand! Astromancy, Chronomancy! Please save them!" The two Magicians obeyed and flew up towards the falling duelists, catching them and putting them down safely next to Yuya before the worst could befall them.  
  
Sawatari, angered at being bested, activated his monster's effect, "Monsters that are released by its effect are summoned onto my field at the end of my turn! I end my turn. If planning won't work, I'll just crush you!"  
  
Yuya, relieved that his loved ones were safe, ignored Sawatari and smiled at them, "Sorry for putting you guys through that."  
  
Yui let out a sigh, "You’re not the one who should be apologizing. Besides, I knew you were gonna win."  
  
Yuzu raised a fist cheerfully, "Yeah, now it's time for a comeback."  
  
"My turn, Draw! Chronomancy, Astromancy! The fun has just begun!" The lights in the city shut off and spotlights began to shine down on Yuya, "Ladies and Gentleman! Today we have a fabulous light show prepared for you! First off, for those who wanted to see the Pendulum, you can't forget these two!" The peanut gallery began cheering, "Magician of Chronomancy and Magician of Astromancy! Let's have them bring out the stars of today's show! You all know what to say right? I, using the scale one Magician of Chronomancy and scale eight of Magician of Astromancy, set the Pendulum scale!" The two magicians raised above the field in transparent pillars of light with Yuya's pendulum necklace appearing in the middle, "With this, I’m able to summon monsters between levels two and seven! Sway, Pendulum of the soul! Draw an arc of light across the ether!"  
  
Yui felt something pulsate through her when Yuya's pendulum appeared. It felt like the same pressure she'd experienced the first time Yuya pendulum summoned. Her head was beginning to feel fuzzy, "Pendulum Summon! Come forth, my monsters!"

 

_Why do I feel like-_

* * *

_A girl long gray hair was lying unmoving in a large pile of rubble. The screams and explosions stirred her from unconsciousness and choked gasps and coughs left her throat. It was a miracle that she was even alive, considering the size of the blast that knocked her out and destroyed the dueling arena, "H-How... I don't understand. How could something like this happen. How could I have been so blind?!"_

_She stumbled to her feet and looked around her, still a bit disoriented. Her hand went to the side of her head and something warm and wet coated it. Realizing that her wounds were worse than she first thought, her eyes widened and she began panicking. A mix of a sudden headache and the destruction around her was throwing her for a loop. At that moment, a distorted voice that sounded eerily similar to her own rang loudly in her mind._  
_  
_ _"YU...I! W...AKE UP!"_

* * *

  
Yui snapped back to reality with a gasp, catching Yuzu's attention, "Yui, are you alright? Why’re you crying?" She flinched at the question and brought a hand to her face. Her eyes were wet. Yuzu gave her a worried look and gently grabbed Yui hand.

“I-I don’t know? There’s just something in my eye,” She used her arm to dry her eyes and turned back to the duel, which was about to reach its finale, but the light squeeze on her arm from Yuzu’s hand told her that she’d probably want to talk about it later. Hopefully she forgets about this.

  
Yuya's Odd Eyes Pendulum Dragon and Sawatari's Darts Monsters began to glow, the latter of which shot beams of light at the dragon, creating two more dragons, "Amazing! my selected monster can attack multiple times equal to the number of monsters my opponent controls! This is the fabulous Kaleido Mirage," The two dragons flew around the field, which was now decorated with colorful lights.  
  
Ayu looked up at the show in awe, "It's so beautiful."  
  
"I sure wish I could enjoy the view too, but I'm dueling. Next, how about I show you my flight of Odd-Eyes battle! Battle Phase! I attack Ultimate Darts Shooter with Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon! Now then everyone, do you know what Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon's monster effect is?" Yuya queued for his audience to participate.  
  
Tatsuya obliged, "Whenever it battles a Level five or higher monster, all combat damage is doubled!"  
  
"That's correct. And with that, I'll have you take that double damage!" The first dragon mirage made its attack causing a small explosion that threw Sawatari into the water, "There's still much more! Next, I attack Rocket Darts Shooter! And the damage is... Doubled," Sawatari tried to escape the explosion from his monster being destroyed, but the momentum knocked him forward, "And now I attack Power Dartz Shooter!" The original Odd Eyes flew up into the air for a dramatic attack, "SPIRAL STRIKE BURST! And of course, the damage is... Doubled," Once again Sawatari was unable to dodge the aftermath of the attack and ended up on the floor with only 1200 life points left.  
  
Sawatari got up from his beating and wiped his mouth, "You're getting pretty... carried away with yourself, aren't you? Think you’re all big now? Well, guess what, I've still got some life points left!"  
  
"Oh no! With his monsters like that, big brother Yuya can't win yet," Futoshi exclaimed.  
  
Yuzu looked "It's fine. Look at Yuya's face."  
  
Yui calmed down a bit watching Yuya enjoy himself. It would be a shame for Yuya to get all depressed because someone else is able to use his Pendulum summoning. More likely than not he was thinking of his father when he'd gotten his head back in the game. At the thought of their father, Yui’s smile faltered, "Yeah. Can you tell he's definitely going to win this."  
  
Yuya gestured to his Flip Toad and Block Spider, "Now, it's time for what you've all be waiting for. The appearance of the stars for today's show!"  
  
"What do you mean stars?! That's just a monster with 0 ATK and another in Defense Position!" Sawatari Argued.  
  
"That's true. Like this, they won't be able to attack. But, don't worry about that! Entermate Fliptoad can flip something around... and that something is... Block Spider!" The previously discarded monster was thrown upwards by Fliptoad.  
  
Sawatari took a step back, "Block Spider became 1200!"  
  
"That's right. By using Fliptoad's card effect you can flip a card from Defense to Attack Position, and that card's ATK becomes half of its DEF! Now then, when you with 1200 Life Points remaining gets attacked by Block Spider with 1200 Attack Points how many life points will you have left? Everyone! I'm sure you all know, right?" As Sawatari shook with fear of losing the duel, Yuya looked to his audience for an answer to his question.  
  
"Of course we do!"  
  
"Well, then. Everyone lets make a direct attack with Block Spider! The answer is-" Block spider collided with Sawatari creating an explosion.  
  
"ZERO!"  
  
The explosion from the attack created a fireworks display in the shape of spider webs. Victory cheers could be heard from the Yuzu and the kids. The duel's ending made the duel field disappear and the arena came back into view. Sawatari was on his knees in front of them and got up a bit beaten up from the duel, "If it's come to this... I'll just take them by force. Guys get them!"  
  
Yui steeled herself ready to do whatever she can fight them off when in a flash of light blue, the three larger boys and Sawatari were knocked on their butts, "Man, these guys were uncool right up to the end, weren't they?" A child's voice commented on the LDS boys. The six You Show students gazed at the back of the new blue-haired figure in front of them. Yui recognized the kid as the one who’d stared at them during their tour. The pony-tailed boy turned to them, "You looked really cool back there!"  
  
"Are you an LDS student, too?" Yuya asked after they all recovered from their initial shock.  
  
"I was planning to, but now I'm not. I'm going to be your apprentice!" The boy declared.  
  
"WHAT?!"  
  
Yuya sputtered a bit, "A-An apprentice? Me?"  
  
He nodded, "Yep. If I'm going to have someone teach me, it might as well be someone interesting! And you're the most interesting person I've met since I came here."  
  
Yuzu pointed to the aftermath of the attack on the LDS boys, "Uh, Did you do that?"  
  
The boy looked up at her, his smile unwavering, "Yup. But, I just knocked them unconscious, that all."  
  
_That's all...? What kind of ninja kid is this?_  
  
Yui hummed skeptically at him, "...and you are?"  
  
His smile became even more cheery, "I'm Shiunin Sora! Nice to meet you!"

  
Later that night, Yui let out a long and relieved sigh before throwing herself onto her bed. It was as if all the worries from her incredibly eventful day were washed away. Or at least she wished that was the case. Not even a nice shower and her warm bed could fully relax her after being made a hostage with Yuzu and the kids, not to mention that horrible vision she saw. Yui wondered if she could even call it that.

She pulled out her phone, and had a couple of unseen messages, one from Yuzu and another from Nino. The later was probably wanted to know what happened since they’d left LDS before her supplementary classes were over and Yuzu was asking about the little episode Yui was having during Yuya’s duel. She stared down at Yuzu’s worried text with furrowed eyebrows, “What can I say other than ‘I’m fine’? I don't even really know what it was.”  
  
_A destroyed city and a voice yelling at me to wake up? They’re so unsettling. Not to mention crying out of nowhere. God that was embarrassing… I hope Yuzu doesn't actually ask me about it._  
  
Yui wanted to believe that it was just a really powerful daydream, but something deep down was telling her it wasn't. She’d seen something similar when Yuya pendulum summoned the first time. With a slight groan of frustration, she'd tossed her phone as she’d gotten up from her bed and began pacing. There must have been something more to it. It felt so real. No regular dream made her feel such real dread. Yui laid back down on her bed with her arm behind her head.  
  
'Are you okay, Yui? You look troubled,' The girl in question looked up at the seemingly empty ceiling and a semi-transparent figure appeared with a worried look on her face. She was a fair human looking spirit clad in a white and pink dress with matching boots. Her hot pink ponytail bobbed behind her waiting for an answer from the more opaque female below her.  
  
"Oh, Blossom. It's nothing. I'm just thinking about the visions I’ve been seeing lately. I’ve been wondering if i’m seeing them because I can see you guys... Besides, with the day I've had, I have every reason to be. I should’ve brought you guys with me to school today," Yui walked over to her desk which sat neatly on her desk and shuffled it.  
  
'Yeah, duh!  We could have helped you do something about the blonde boy,' Another spirit appeared in a similar outfit as the girl in pink only colored light blue. Her hair was also light blue and was long and wavy. Her cheeks were puffed up in annoyance and her arms were folded as she looked down at her master, who was surprised about her knowledge of Sawatari, 'Fliptoad and Whip Viper told us about what happened today. But, you went and left us home.'  
  
Yui sighed, "I'm sorry, Marine. I honestly wasn't in much of a dueling mood today. I figured if I didn't bring my deck, I'd have an excuse not to-" Two knocks from her room door interrupted her explanation and the spirits disappeared. She already knew who it was based on the voice that called her name, "Hey, Bro. What's up?" One glance above her brother's head and she could see the spirits of his monsters. Marine and Blossom reappeared and began chatting with them.  
  
He peaked his head into her room and looked around before stepping into her room completely and approaching his sister, "Yui? Were you, uh, talking to yourself?"  
  
The younger Sakaki's rolled her eyes at his inquiry, "I was just on the phone with Nino. Was there anything you wanted?"  
  
Yuya's looked away for a second, not exactly sure what to say, "I just wanted to know if you were okay. Like, really okay. I know you said you were when we got home, but I saw your face near the end of the duel and I just... You know you can tell me if anything is wrong, right?"  
  
All the things she could have and should have told him buzzed around in her head before settling for the simplest one, "It's not anything serious, really. I mean it was pretty scary to be up on the tower like that, but aside from that I'm fine," She gave him a sly look, "You should go properly console Yuzu tomorrow, though."  
  
His confused facial expression told Yui all she needed to know. He was still just as dense as ever, "'Properly?' Yuzu said she was fine too."  
  
"Good Night, Yuya." Yui smiled, before and pulling him into a hug, "And thanks. Now get out of my room," Before Yuya could return the hug he was pushed out of the door. Yui leaned against the door and sank to the floor. A disheartened groan left her. Her duel spirits floated over to her.

 

‘You’re not going to tell him anything?’

 

Yui quickly got up from her position on the floor and scoffed before switching off the lights.

 

“Absolutely not.”

* * *

For those who wanna know what my ocs look like, here a link! 

[Yui&Nino](http://cosocopia.tumblr.com/post/181694636433/some-old-drawings-of-character-from-my-yu-gi-oh)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a blonde boy doing what blonde boys do.


	2. Lil' Boy Blue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A small blue boy learns how not to stalk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Here's another chapter! I'm actually super excited to get back to writing this fic. Especially since I think about how to go about changing and fixing certain things and what I should add or take out altogether. School's got me spending a lot less time on this, but I'll update as often as possible. 
> 
> Enjoy!

'Yui… Yui… Time to wake up. Yui.'

‘YUI, TIME TO GET UUUUUP!’

Yui yelled as she shot up from her bed and nearly tumbled off. She was awake, but at what cost? With a tired groan, she attempted to rub the sleep out of her eyes and looked up to address the voices disturbing her sleep. Blossom floated above her smiling and waiting for Yui to be completely awake, 'Time to get dressed for school.'  
  
'It’s morning! Get up and seize the day,' Marine bellowed with a fist in the air as she appeared along with two more spirits who greeted her as well, albeit much quieter than the two younger looking spirits. The blonde spirit, who was called Sunshine, wore a yellow outfit similar to Blossom and Marine's except for a midriff-baring top. The last spirit, Moonlight, had long lavender hair and was sharper and more refined compared to the others. Her ankle length dress was colored silver, blue and white.  
  
Yui yawned and dragged her hands over her face, "Morning..." She stretched and fell face first onto her bed, much to their chagrin of her spirits. With a groan, she thought back to the day before and what she saw during Yuya’s duel. That was one the most exhausting days of her life and she wanted to go back to bed. Ruins and a distorted voice calling out to her that sounded eerily similar to her own. To her relief, Yui didn’t recall any dreams from last night. She sighed and rolled onto her back, grabbing her phone from the nightstand.

_Duel Monster Spirits? Apocalypse Dreams? Psychic Duel Powers?_

Yui hadn’t looked up anything involving supernatural occult stuff in a while and she’d only ever found minimal information if you could even call it that. She looked down at her phone, buzzing with what apparently counted as information, with a scrutinizing look. She was basically scrolling through a bunch of fake ghost stories. A bunch of people who either had never seen a spirit or made a duel monster do real damage in their life and wanted to pretend they did for internet attention or people who were completely deluded.

Sure, she’d only managed to make the damage happen a few times by accident when she was really upset but, she was by far more valid than these people… right?

Yui shook any looming thoughts of her actually just being crazy from her head and looked up at her spirits casually talking amongst themselves. They’d been her friends since she was little, but everyone online was only talking about evil spirits that wanted to hurt them. Not all of them were like that. Even Yuya and Yuzu’s duel spirits were nice.

_Hmm… Spirit discrimination?_

After braiding her hair and getting dressed into her unorthodox rendition of her school's uniform, a white tee-shirt underneath a pink hooded vest, Yui ventured out of her room. She took a couple of steps down the hall and paw pads slapping on the floor could be heard immediately from around the corner. A puppy and two cats, one big and one small, happily approached her. Seeing their furry little faces come to greet her melted her heart and her worries almost immediately.

Much like her mother, she had an unending love for all things adorable. Of course, she'd never willingly let anyone outside her family, and maybe Yuzu, see her fawning over them, "Kohru! An! Peko!" Yui quickly sat on her legs to be at the perfect height for showering the animals with affection. The newest addition to the pets in their house, a Calico kitten named Peko began climbing her pink and white striped knee socks as the brown puppy named An and the white Persian cat named Kohru were given multiple hugs and kisses, "Good morning, you sweet babies."  
  
A couple of minutes of playing with the housepets were enough to make Yui’s morning multiple times brighter and when they ran off, Yui got up from the floor with new energy. Abruptly, loud snoring from inside the room next to her caught her attention. She peeked into her brother's room and as usual, he was half covered by sheets and sprawled out on the edge of his bed. He’d probably fall off his bed if she yelled loud enough, the way he was sleeping. Before she could attempt this, the doorbell rang downstairs, "Yui! Yuya! Whichever is walking around up there, could you get the door for me!?"  
  
Yui figured their mother must have been busy and with a click of her tongue, abandoned her plan to give Yuya a rude awakening. She slid down the pole that led to the lower floor. Gray eyebrows raised in surprise when she opened the door and looked down, "Wow, really? How the hel- heck did you find out where we live?"  
  
The weird blue-haired ninja boy from the day before stood smiling and waving at her, "Good morning! Oh, you're teacher's sister."  
  
"Yeahhh… just call me Yui and don't you have school or something? It's too early in the morning for- all of this, actually," Yui leaned on the door frame with an eyebrow raised in inquiry. The kid seemed nice enough; too nice. It was a little suspicious, especially considering how he took out those LDS bastards the day before. Yuya wasn't going to teach him anything, anyway. He wasn’t  _that_  much like their father. Naturally, she considered turning the kid away for a second and smiled wryly. Then again, it was kind of funny seeing Sora bother Yuya so much.  
  
Sora's bright smile didn't falter, "I'm here to see Yuya about becoming my teacher! He's home, right?"  
  
"Huh, what's that about Yuya," Yoko appeared behind Yui and looked down at their little visitor. He put on the cutest smile he could muster and introduced himself as Yuya's friend. Her heart melted and her face flushed a bit, "Oh, I had no idea Yuya had such cute little friends! Would you like to come inside and wait for him? He should be waking up soon," Sora smiled at the invitation and stepped inside, happily taking one of the four seats at their kitchen table. "Are you hungry? We have extra pancakes. Oh, I don't even know your name."  
  
Kicking his feet, Sora happily introduced himself, "My name is Shiunin Sora. It's nice to meet you and I'm not very hungry. I'll just wait for Yuya."  
  
_'This boy is quite fixated on being taught by Yuya. He even came to your home and is kissing up to your mother.'_ Moonlight pointed out, closely analyzing Sora. Yui hummed thoughtfully at Moonlight's statement and agreed as she took a seat perpendicular to him. Sora was probably going to try to use their mother to get Yuya to teach him. Her eyes narrowed a bit at him. She didn't feel like he had any especially bad intentions but, the fact that he found their house was concerning. Yui was pulled from her thoughts when she heard a stomach growl.  
  
Yoko used her motherly powers and almost instantly placed a plate and a cup in front of him and Yui, "I knew you were hungry! Go on, eat as much as you like!"  
  
Yuya landed at the bottom of the pole at the sound of his mother’s affectionate cooing, "Mom... Did you pick up another pet?" He froze and collapsed upon seeing Sora eating at the table with his mother and sister.  
  
"Ah, Teacher!" Sora cheerfully greeted him with a welcoming wave, “Good morning!”  
  
Yui let out a short, dry laugh at her brother's comedic reaction and gestured in Sora's direction, "Morning, Yuya. Looks like your student is here."  
  
Yuya recovered and quickly approached the dining table, sitting down across from him, "That's not funny, Yui. More importantly, why are you here!?"  
  
"I invited him in. He was asking if you were around," Yoko said, placing a plate of pancakes in front of Yuya, "You know me. I have to help every feed poor little one I see. And he's such a polite boy, I couldn't help myself."  
  
Yui sighed a bit at her mother's eagerness and rested her head on her hand. The look on Yuya’s face was still kinda funny but, there was still the issue of how he’d found their house, "He's not a puppy, Mom. He’s a random kid you just let into our house." She turned her gaze to Sora, preparing herself to interrogate him before some angry mother came at their door with a pitchfork looking for her lost child.  
  
"Oh, I'm sure it's fine, sweetie," Yoko said, smiling brightly at her daughter, "Isn't he Yuya's apprentice?"  
  
Yuya slammed his hand on the table, "No, he isn't! I never agreed to teach him anything! It's bad enough he's in my house and manipulating my family, now he's eating breakfast here too,"  
  
Sora pouted looked over at him cutely, "Aw... Come on. It's not that bad, besides now I get to eat your big sister's pancakes and they're delicious by the way," As Sora uttered these words, Yui, who’d just taken a sip from her drink, immediately choked on it, when he called their mother her sister. Yuya quickly slapped his coughing sister's back, as their mother, in shock inquired about what the youngest boy had said. Sora looked at the three of them and his eyes widened, "Was I wrong? I thought someone so young and pretty would be a big sister."  
  
Yoko's cheeks turned pink and her eyes sparkled, "Calling me pretty and young… Goodness, I wish my children were as honest as you," Yoko in her joyous stupor, took the plate of pancakes from in front of Yuya and set in front of Sora, "Here have some more."  
  
"Mom!" Yuya looked away from Yui as she recovered, in horror as his mother gave away his breakfast, "Mom," The two groaned. Unfortunately, along with cute things, Yoko was also susceptible to flattery.  
  
Yui sighed heavily, "Wanna split half of my stack?"  
  
"...Yeah."

* * *

 

"HE DID WHAT?!" Nino exclaimed later on that day. She and Yui were eating lunch on an outside bench and the latter explained what happened during their adventure to the Leo Duel School the day before, "That scumbag Shingo! I knew he and Yuya were dueling yesterday, but where does he get off stealing cards like that?! And  _hostages_?! Yui, are sure you’re okay?" You could almost see steam coming from the blonde's ears from anger, "Now, what everyone was talking about makes sense."

“Yeah, I’m fi- what do you mean by what everyone is talking about?”

Nino huffed a bit before, answering, “Well, this is the gist of what I skimmed over in my LDS class group chat last night. So, apparently when you guys went into Center Court, someone who was cutting class in there was recording everything, and Shingo got into big trouble. But, it probably had more to do with him making the school look bad. He’s on probation right now and everyone’s super pissed at him. The only ones vouching for him are his parents and, well, that’s not shocking. Honestly, if his dad wasn't a leading candidate for mayor, I think he would’ve gotten expelled.”

Yui’s eyes widened at the news, she didn’t expect the school to actually find out and punish Sawatari, but she couldn’t say she felt bad for him, all things considered.

“The recording got put on YuuView but, it was taken down so fast, I never got to see it. The story’s been circulating around like crazy, though. I’m surprised no one in school has said anything to you about it, then again with that RBF you have on all the time, I shouldn’t be that surprised.”

_Nino, the original Gossip Girl._

Yui rolled her eyes at the RBF comment, and thought back to the first part of her school day and realized that people were paying more attention to her than usual since this morning. People were actually saying hello to her and a couple people even gave her a thumbs up. There were people who she’d never spoken to before who suddenly knew her name in a positive light. She ignored it and just figured the attention was because of Yushou as usual, but now…

 _Was… Was this because I punched Sawatari in the face?_  
  
“I’ll beat him up, if you want, Yui.” Nino placed a hand on Yui’s shoulder, her face dead serious, “He acts like he’s all tough and cool, but I know him, he’s a total wuss. Give me the okay and I’ll walk to into whatever class he’s in right now and beat the crap out of him.”

Yui stifled a laugh and held a hand up, "You don't have to do that. Yuya and I already taught him a lesson, also I don’t want you to get in trouble." She ate another sausage out of her bento and let her eyes wander a bit. From a distance, she spotted a certain blue-haired boy, "What the- He’s here too?" Quickly, Yui finished the last of her lunch and made her way towards Sora who happened to be hanging upside from a tree with binoculars.  
  
"You look so serious... I wonder what you're thinking about, Teacher?" Sora said aloud with a curious grin.  
  
Yui gazed up at him, "Sora. This is called stalking you know… That and I'm pretty sure you don't go to this school. How’d you even get on campus grounds?"  
  
"Ah, Yui," Sora expertly flipped out of the tree and landed, placing the binoculars around his neck, “I’m not stalking, I’m just keeping an eye on teacher as any diligent student should.”

“Yui? Why’d you- Who’s this?” Nino jogged up to Yui and looked down at the blue haired child, “Oh, wait. Is this the kid who’s been hanging around campus harassing Yuya all day? Go back to your own school, kid,” Nino took on a bit of a motherly voice as she scolded him. Yui didn’t even bother to ask how she knew about Sora.

“Aww, but I just want wanted to see Teacher Pendulum Summon again, since I can't do it without having his cards,” Sora put on one of the cutest faces he could muster, stopping Nino in her tracks. Yui couldn't deny that Sora was incredibly adorable and under different circumstances, she’d probably want to dote on him like she does the housepets.

“Oh, yeah?” Nino put on her own cute face that rivaled his in sparkling intensity and pouted similarly to him, “But, if he doesn’t like it, you should stop~!”

Yui grinned just a bit as Sora looked up in surprise at Nino’s response to his cuteness, “Nino’s right. Hmm... If it’s that important to you, I suggest going to You Show Duel School and challenging him after classes are over. You’re being a nuisance hanging around here.”

“A duel,” Sora already intended to duel Yuya himself if push came to shove but, being encouraged to do so by his younger sister would probably make Yuya more likely to participate, “Okay,” he cheered, “I’ll go to your school.”

“Good. Well, lunch is about to be over so, we have to run. See ya later, Sora,” Yui and Nino waved him goodbye and headed back to class.

* * *

After classes finally ended, Yui made it her business to leave school before Yuya so she could see his face when he saw Sora at the school too.

“Y’know, I’m surprised _you_  didn’t challenge Sora to duel for harassing Yuya. That’s used to, like, be your thing for  _years_? I used to think you were an actual superhero, like on tv,” Nino laughed, walking alongside Yui.

Yui grimaced, “Ugh, don’t remind me… Besides, Sora just seems like an eager kid who wants to see Yuya pendulum summon in a duel again. Suspicious, but at least he’s not another Sawatari.” Yui glanced over at Nino, who she just realized was skipping out on her classes at LDS to hang out at You Show once again, “Nino, you’re going to get into trouble again if you keep skipping class like this.”

Nino quickly waved her off, “It’s fine. I’m not even that serious about being a duelist, anyway. My parents only want me to be the best so the family can dominate another field. My sister’s the top in law, my brother’s the top in medicine, Dad’s the only reason Shingo’s dad is so likely to become mayor, and mom’s some sort of high ranking partner with Leo Corp. Like, don’t get me wrong, I love dueling but, they totally ruined it.”

“Well, you can’t let your parents stop you from doing what you like to do.”

Nino raised an eyebrow and stopped walking, her hands now firmly placed on her hips, “You’re one to talk, girl. Your dueling has been spotty at best for the past 2 years. Whatever happened to the “Mysterious Masked action duelist, Masquerade, who fought for truth and justice?”

Yui visibly bristled and blushed brightly in embarrassment. She lightly slapped Nino’s arm, “Would you keep your voice down? It was a  _secret,_  meaning you keep quiet about it and you know why I hung up the mask. Y’know, aside from that fact that I’m not a little kid anymore and neither is Yuya. I don't even have that deck anymore. Stop trying to change the subject.”

“I’m not!” Nino furrowed her brows, ”Yui, that duel… it was years ago and was an accident. I refuse to believe that’s the only reason, ‘cause I’m not the only one here with parental hang-ups.”

Yui clicked her tongue in annoyance but said nothing further.

“Yui, Nino!” A familiar voice called out to them from behind. The two turned to the voice and it was Yuya and Yuzu walking up to them, looking a lot like a couple.

Nino blushed when she realized it was Yuya calling her name, and imagined Yuya running to her with sparkles surrounding them, “H-Hi, Yuya!” She nearly slapped herself at how stupid she sounded.

Yui sighed, disappointed that Yuya managed to catch up before they got to You Show,  _Dammit, I thought we were further away…_ She wiped the scowl off her face and turned to her Yuzu and Yuya.

“Hey, you guys,” Yui greeted. She sent a snarky grin her brother's way, ”Have you agreed to be Sora’s teacher yet, Yuya?”

Yuya sent an annoyed glare back her way, “No, I  _haven’t._  And I’m not going to! I don’t get why he’s so determined to have me be his teacher!”

Yui shrugged and looked away from him, “Maybe he just has a crush on you; that seems to be a trend.”

His eyes widened in shock and confusion. Unbeknownst to the boy in question, Yuzu and Nino looked over at Yui in absolute horror while she grinned wickedly. Yuya’s cheeks flushed red slightly, inched towards her and put his arm around her shoulder, grinning cheekily, “What’re you talking about, sis? Who has a crush on me, huh?”

Yui rolled her eyes. Of course, he wasn't going to catch on, “I was kidding, Yuya. Get off me, you creep,” Instead of letting go, he pressed his finger into her cheek, insisting she tell him. Yui sighed through her nose and slapped his hand away before ducking under his arm and putting him in a headlock.

“Ah- Yui, wait!” Yuya writhed in Yui’s hold, “I was just playing around!”

A small evil smile appeared on her face, “Say uncle.”

Suddenly, a paper fan slapped them both in the head, “Jeez! Will you two behave yourselves?!”

“Sorry,  _mom_ ,” Yui Sighed, letting go of her brother, causing him to land on his butt.

“Hey, why did I get hit too?!” Yuya exclaimed, making the three girls laugh.

* * *

When the four duelists in training arrived at the school, Yuya entered first with a new energy brought on by Yuzu, who entered after him, followed by Yui and Nino, “Ladies and Gentleman! The fun and Bright Entertainer Sakaki Yuya has arri-“

“Ah! Teacher!” Sora cheered getting up from his seat. Sitting around him were Futoshi and Ayu.

“How come you guys are so late,” Futoshi asked.

Ayu smiled at Yuya, “Yeah, you left your student waiting!”

Yuya bolted over to the table and kneeled in front of it, “Forget that! You! Why’re you here too?!”

Sora pointed to Yui, “Your sister told me to come here,” Yuya was taken back and looked at his sister with betrayal in his eyes.

“Oh, don’t look at me like that. It was better for him to just come straight here instead of following you around the school all day,” Yui said, taking a seat next to the kids.

As Nino took her seat next to Yui, Yuzu’s father, a tanned man with brown and orange colored hair, wearing a red jumpsuit pulled Yuya towards him by the back of his collar, “Yuya!” Shuzo exclaimed, putting his arm around the boy’s shoulders, “We’ll be getting a new student today, since he’s your apprentice and all, right? Right?”

“I keep telling you guys he’s not my apprentice,” Yuya exclaimed, moving away from Shuzo.

“C’mon, Teacher! Let’s duel! Then you can show me Pendulum Summoning! It was so cool when you pulled it off and the monsters came out like with a flash! It was so amazing,” Sora gushed, “I really want to duel you, Teacher! I’ve been looking forward to it!”  

“You have to admit, he’s honestly really adorable,” Nino whispered to Yui, who nodded in agreement.

“Why do I have to duel you,” Yuya asked, sounding thoroughly annoyed by the entire situation.  

Sora wilted, “So, we can’t?” He looked up at Yuya with a sad puppy dog face of epic proportions, “Teacher… Y-You really won't... duel with me?”

His charm took full effect on everyone in the room, even making Yui’s face go red,  _Oh my god. The kids a master…_

Ayu was first to speak, “C’mon, big brother Yuya. Don’t you feel bad for him?”

Futoshi chimed in as well, “You should duel him!”

“Yeah, Yuya! I haven't been able to see you duel in person in forever,” Nino cheered.

“You should just duel him, Yuya,” Yui said, “I don't think this’ll stop otherwise.”

“I mean, just once is fine, right?” Yuzu asked, smiling at Sora.

“Yuya,” Shuzo scolded, “I don't remember training you to be the kind of duelist that runs from a challenge!”

Sora turned his cute face on Yuya in another attempt to get a duel out of him, “Please, teacher! Duel with me!”

“Even if you look at me like that, no means no.”  

“Pleeeease!”

Yuya groaned in defeat, “Fine, fine. I’ll duel you… But, if I beat you, no more following me around and no more calling me teacher and asking to be my apprentice.”

Sora nodded, “Sure. So that means if I win, I can become your apprentice, follow you around, and call you teacher all I want, right?”

“Sure, sure… Wait,  _what_?”

* * *

Yuya and Sora stood across from each other as everyone stood on the sidelines. Shuzo manned the Solid Vision equipment upstairs. The duel was about to begin, “Will the last standing be Yuya or Sora? Action Field On! Field Magic! Wild West Duel Town,” In a flash of light, a town from out of an American western movie appeared around the two duelists.

Sora looked around, unimpressed with the map chosen, “What? This kinda stuff is boring! Don't you have a place that’s more fun?”

“Uhh… Well, how about this?!” In another flash of light, the area became a world covered with candy.

“Wow, It’s a country of candy! It looks delicious! I love it! Thank you, Mister!”

Sora and Yuya activated their duel disks, "Duelists locked in battle! Kicking against the earth and dancing in the air alongside their monsters! They storm through this field! Behold! This is the newest and greatest evolution of dueling!"

“ACTION... DUEL!” Action cards scattered across the field.

“I’ll go first! I summon Entermate Discover Hippo from my hand,” A pink hippo in a top hat and a circus MC outfit appeared. Yuya hopped onto his back to ride him, “Since I can’t attack, I end my turn.”

“My turn, Draw! I activate the continuous spell, Toy Pot from my hand. Toy Pot lets me send one card from my hand to my graveyard and draw one card from my deck,” A sentient toy vending machine appear and Sora deposited a card into his duel disk, “Don't need this! If the card is a level 4 or lower monster I can summon it! Anything else gets sent to the graveyard. Draw! The card a drew is… Furnimal Bear! I special summon Furnimal Bear! And after that, I summon Furnimal Lion!” A stuffed lion and bear both with wings on their backs appeared in front of Sora!

“He used a continuous spell card to get two monsters on to his field quickly,” Shuzo summarized, now in the peanut gallery with the kids.

“It looks like he’s actually very good,” Yuzu said.

Nino nudged Yui, “Looks like you were right to be interested in him huh, Yui?”

Yui rubbed her chin, “Well, if he was walking around in LDS, he probably got an invitation, so he must have some skill, right?”

“But, his monsters... They’re so cute!” Yuzu and Ayu gushed in unison.

Sora took advantage of Yuya being distracted by the girls and to falling into a sugary lake to attack his Discover hippo with Furnimal Lion. Yuya faked alarm and activated the Action Card: Evade from his hand, allowing him to negate a monster’s attack. He and Discover Hippo rolled in mid-air out of the way of the stuffed lion's attack.

“What? No fair! You can’t dodge,” Sora whined.

Yuya looked back at him, “It’s an action duel, of course, it’s fair!”

Futoshi watched the duel in confusion, “But, when did Yuya pick up an action card?”

Tatsuya thought for a moment, “Oh! Could it have been when he fell into the juice pond?”

“Yuya, in front of you,” Yuzu yelled. Not being able to stop in time, Yuya ran face first into a chocolate roll cake and popped out of the top of it. Sora attempted to attack Discover Hippo with Furnimal Bear, but Yuya pulled out another action card, “Is that another action card?!”

“Hold on, he didn’t run into the cake because he knew the action card was in there, right?” Shuzo exclaimed.

Nino looked on in amazement, “Woah, that’s some crazy good luck!”

“I activate the Action Magic: Candy Shower!” Candies began raining from the sky enticing Furnimal Bear to run to them instead of attack Discover Hippo, “Candy Shower can change one of my opponent's monsters to DEF mode.”

“Really, then I’ll end my turn… If it’s gonna be like that, then I’ll get some action cards too,” Sora said visibly upset by Yuya’s actions cards thwarting him at every turn.

“My turn, Draw!” Yuya looked over at Sora trying to use Furnimal Bear and Lion to reach an Action Card atop a weather vane. Using Discover Hippo he easily snatched up the card before him, “It’s my lucky day!”

“Ah, no fair!”

“Since I’ve gotten such a great card, It’s time to start what you’ve all been waiting for! I, using the Scale One Magician of Astromancy and the scale Eight Magician of Chronomancy, set the Pendulum Scale!" The words Pendulum lit up on his duel disk and the two magicians rose majestically on either side of him, “With this is can summon multiple monsters from levels Two to Seven! Sway Pendulum of the Soul,” Yuya’s necklace appeared, swinging between the two magicians, “Draw an arc of light across the aether! PENDULUM SUMMON! Come forth my monsters! Level 4, Entermate Water Strider! Level 2 Entermate Swordfish! Level 7, Odd eyes Pendulum Dragon!”

“Wow, That was amazing, teacher,” Sora exclaimed looking on in absolute wonder.

“Don’t be so hasty, There’s more to come after this! I activate Swordfish’s monster effect! This card allows me to, once per turn, lower one of my opponents ATK by 600, Swordfish split of into multiple versions of itself and trapped Furnimal Lion. Now, to use that Action Card I got! It increases the ATK of one monster on my field by 700 until the end of the turn! Odd-Eye’s ATK goes up 700! Battle Phase! I attack Furnimal Lion with Odd-Eyes,” The red dragon began barreling towards Furnimal Lion, “With those dual colored eyes, lay waste to all that you see! Spiral Strike Burst!” A red and black colored beam of light destroyed Furnimal Lion and the shockwave sent Sora flying into a pile of marshmallows. His life points fell to 1800, “And with that, I end my turn. Odd-Eye’s ATK returns to normal.”

“2200. Dealing a huge chunk of damage like that, That some hot, fiery dueling right there!” Shuzo cheered.

Futoshi grabbed his arms, “I’m getting shivers! But wait… Isn’t Odd-Eyes supposed to double all the damage it does?”

“That’s only if the monster it battled had a level over 5,” Tatsuya reminded him.

Nino pointed to Sora, who had yet to get up, “Uh, have you guys noticed that he’s not moving,” Yui tensed, staring at the boys seemingly unconscious face. It was like she was being hit with Deja vu. Ayu, Shuzo, and Yuzu all voiced concern and scolded Yuya on his duel being a bit too forceful.

Yuya looked confused, “Huh, but this is a duel?”

Suddenly Sora flipped up from the marshmallows making the peanut gallery and Yuya fall over comically, “Now, that’s what I wanted to see! The monsters going all schwoom and then came out like fwoosh when they attack! Pendulum monsters are the best! My turn, draw,” He looked down at his card and the look in his eyes changed a bit, “Now, that I’ve got this card, I can show you the full power of my deck.”

“Huh? You haven’t been serious until now?”

“You’ll just have to see. I discard one card from my hand to activate Toy Pot’s effect,” A coin went into the vending machine, “What will it be, what will it be~ Here it is! Level 3 Edge Imp Scissors! I special summon Edge Imp Scissors. And now I activate the Magic Card: Fusion from my hand!”

Yuya’s eyes bugged out, “Wait, What?! Did you just say Fusion?!”

“The monsters I fuse are Edge Imp and Furnimal Bear! Claws of the demon and fangs of the beast! Become one and reveal your true form! Fusion Summon! Come forth! The horrifying beast that shreds all! Level 6, Death-Toy Scissor Bear! Now, I’m gonna show you what happens when I get serious, Teacher!”

The reaction amongst the peanut gallery varied, Yui whistled, impressed with the summoning of the new monster while Yuzu looked visibly concerned. Ayu fearfully clung to her while the boys looked on in excitement.

Yui continued to watch the duel with a bit of scrutiny after the appearance of Sora’s Fusion monster,  _I knew there had to be something up with him other than the cuteness he was flashing everyone with. If his deck is any indication of his personality, anyway..._

Shuzo’s expression was uncharacteristically serious, “The Magic Card: Fusion… combining two monsters into one stronger one. Fusion summoning… I heard they’d started teaching it at LDS, but is he actually a student at LDS?” The group looked over at Nino, who was, in fact, an LDS student.

Nino bristled at the sudden attention, “H-Hey don’t look at me! I don’t know him! He’s probably new.”

“No, he said that he was thinking of joining but decided not to,” Yuzu mentioned.

“It could also be self-study. There are duelists who don't go to a school at all and teach themselves, via books or watching duels,” Yui said.

Shuzo spoke up, familiar with the concept, “Those were the old days of dueling. Long before action dueling was invented. But, now that solid vision is necessary for action duels, many go to school to hone their craft. I doubt someone that young would teach himself fusion.”

Yui stayed silent and turned her attention back to the duel.

“Battle phase! First, time to get rid of that annoying mobile hippo of yours. I attack Discover Hippo with Death Toy Scissor Bear,” The perpetually impaled bear slapped Yuya and Discover Hippo into the juice pond, shaving his life points down to 2600. As he climbed out, Scissor Bear loomed over him, “Now, for Scissor bear’s effect! Scissor Bear can equip the monster it destroyed to itself.”

“What?!” Yuya exclaimed in shock.

Scissors Bear grabbed Discover Hippo out of the juice pond and ate him, “I equip Discover Hippo to Scissors Bear and he gains ATK equal to the monster it destroyed!”

Yuzu gasped, “An attack of 3000?!”

“A monster that gains strength equal to the monster it destroys… Death-Toy Scissors Bear… What a terrifying card!” Shuzo said with an unsettled look on his face.

Sora looked down smugly at Yuya, “What’s wrong, teacher? What happened to all that confidence from before? I set two cards face-down and end my turn.”

Nino hummed thoughtfully and looked to Yui, “So, what do you think now, Yui? About Sora, I mean.”

Yui thought for a moment, trying to find the right words, “Well, the duel’s only just started but at first, I didn’t get why he wanted to badly to learn how to pendulum summon but, I didn't feel like he would try anything underhanded. It felt like he was more than just some kid when he appeared at our door this morning. He’s skilled but, he hides it under the cutesy parts of him, but like his deck there’s a sharp and “scary” part of him, I guess But, as I said, the duels just started so, that’s all I’ve got,” She kept her eyes on the duel and under her breath said, “I don’t like his taunting, but it might be good for Yuya…. I guess I’ll get around to dueling him. Maybe”

Nino’s eyes lit up and she grabbed Yui’s shoulders, slightly shaking her, “Really?! You’re gonna duel?! Who?! When?!” She whispered.

Yui deadpanned at Nino’s excitement, “No. Forget I said anything. Go back to watching the duel.”

“Aw, Yui,” Nino pouted but hushed up anyway.

“Wow, Teacher! You’re making such a scary face!” Sora said, with a grin. While Yui and Nino were talking Sora had managed to negate Yuya’s attack with Odd-eyes and lowered its ATK to 900 with two copies of the same trap card and simultaneously lost his Entermate Water Strider. Yuya changed his swordfish to defense mode. “That sure is a passive tactic, Teacher? What happened? Are you out of options, already? I hope not. cause that would be really disappointing. I thought I could have a more interesting duel with you. How boring,” Yuya simply set a card and ended his turn.

“Now the ATK of Scissors Bear, which was lowered by Swordfish’s, returns to normal,” The bear grew and its ATK went up to 3000, “My turn, Draw! With this, I might be able to end this duel right away! I activate the Spell Card: Toy Parade from my hand! During this turn, any Toy or monster with the name Toy in its name can attack as many times as they have equip cards attached to them.”

Yuya was taken back, “What?!”

Shuzo nearly pressed his face to the glass, “This is really, really, bad!”

Futoshi raised an eyebrow in confusion, “Is it? Scissor Bear only has the Discover Hippo it just destroyed equipped, so it can only attack once, right? That’s the same amount it can attack anyway.”

Tatsuya’s eyes widened in realization, “Wait, Futoshi, that's not it!”

“When Scissor Bear attacks, it automatically equips the monster. That means that if it destroys one of Yuya’s monsters, then he can make a second attack because of Toy Parade. Which would destroy his second monster, giving Scissor Bear a third equip. That would allow him to attack Yuya directly,” Yui explained.

“Oh, now I get it! Oh, no! That really  _is_  bad!”

Sora grinned, “And if I attack directly, I’ll definitely win!”

Ayu looked up at Yuzu, “Big brother Yuya isn’t going to lose is he?”

She gently placed a hand on her head and smiled, “Don’t worry, It’s Yuya after all. Something like this won't make him give up.”

“A lot of thought went into his deck. It’s really impressive!” Nino exclaimed, in excitement. She was bouncing on the tips of her toes in anticipation, “He would definitely have been accepted into the fusion course with those skills.”

Yui hummed, “Yuya better go get an action card quick, if he wants any chance of avoiding Toy Parade and Scissor Bear’s effect combo,” Almost on queue, Yuya began running around the field. Sora anticipated this and hopped onto Scissor Bear as Yuya called Odd-Eyes to increase his mobility. Sora used his monster to throw him towards the candy cane holding the Action Card. In one swift move, Sora caught the card and swung around the candy cane before Yuya could get it. He tucked and rolled before skillfully hopping from lollipops and landing on Scissor Bear’s paw.

Everyone gaped in awe at Sora’s agility. Where on earth did this kid come from? “Using your monsters properly is key to getting action. Getting rid of your Hippo was definitely the right choice. Now, time for our highly anticipated battle phase!” When Sora went for an attack on Odd-Eyes, Yuya activated his Trap Card: Entermate Flash.

“If I have an Entermate on the field, this card allows me to change one of my opponents' monsters from attack to defense mode!” Before the effect could change Scissor Bear Sora activated the action card that he’s just gotten, which allowed one monster on his side of the field that to be unaffected by spell or trap cards as well as indestructible by battle. Sora now able to continue his attack sent Odd-Eyes barreling into the pond.

“Odd-Eyes!” Yuya fell to his knees as eyes started welling up with tears and pulled his goggles over his eyes.

Shuzo’s eyebrows furrowed, “After that, he’s guaranteed to lose. I can understand being upset at losing like that but…”

Yui tightly clutched the hem of her skirt, conflicted between wanting to comfort her brother and chastise him for acting like that during a duel, “No... It’s more than just that. He lost Odd-Eyes… and he’s what gives Yuya the courage to keep going.”

“Huh?”

Yuzu spoke up, “ It’s the symbol of Pendulum Summoning that Yuya created.”

“So, not only were his life points damaged, his heart was too,” Tatsuya said, sadly.

“You can do it, Big Brother Yuya!” Futoshi cheered with tears in his eyes.

“Well, then. I’ll leave the depressed Teacher alone and take Odd-Eyes! Scissor Bear! Equip the destroyed Odd-Eyes!”  

Yui clicked her tongue. How was Yuya going to be the star duelist he wanted to be if this as how he was going to react to losing Odd-Eyes.

* * *

_A younger version of Yuya was in a park tearfully searching for something, “Where is it? Where did it go?”_

_“Dad, he’s over here!” A grey high ponytail and red dress bounced wildly as a younger version of Yui ran pulling a man in a red master of ceremonies costume by the hand. Her determined expression made him curious as to what she could be trying to alert him too. She stopped short upon seeing Yuya’s crying face, and slowed her approach, letting go of Yusho’s hand._

_“Yu-Yu? You okay?”_

_Yusho approached his crying son gently, “What’s wrong, Yuya?”_

_Yuya’s eyes lit up at Yusho’s appearance, but his face fell when he remembered what’d he lost, “Dad, my pendulum… My pendulum is gone!” he brought his balled fists to his face and began crying again._

_“Some boys took it and threw it away!” Yui hissed angrily, as she moved into his view. She’d tried to get it back from them with a large branch she found but they ran off before she could hit them. Of course, she wasn’t going to tell their father that lest she gets into trouble._

_“Is that so, well that’s quite a problem,” Yusho was relieved. Though he didn’t show it on his face he was worried that Yuya might have been hurt. He kneeled down to meet his eye level, “But, if you keep crying and being sad, nothing good will come from it, okay? When you feel like crying, keep your chin up and laugh. If you do that, You’ll be able to move forward. That goes for both of you. It’ll be okay.” He placed his hands on both children’s heads, messing up their hair._

_“But… ” Yuya looked up from his hands and spotted his pendulum up in a nearby tree, “There it is!”_

_Yusho smiled kindly at Yuya, “See? Just like I told you! Everything turned out fine.”_

_“Yeah!” Yuya smiled happily._

Yuya threw his head back dramatically and laughed boisterously making Sora and the peanut gallery look on in confusion. Yui folded her arms, “There he is. Now get back in there.”

Scissor Bear was digging around in the juice pond to take Odd-Eyes but, found that nothing was there, making Sora tilt his head in confusion, “Eh? Where’s Odd-Eyes?”

“H-He’s not in the Graveyard,” Yuya said with his back turned.

“Huh?”

With new confidence brimming, Yuya turned back to Sora with his arm extended to reveal Odd-Eyes’ card, “He’s in my extra deck!”

“WHAT?!” The peanut gallery yelled out in understandable shock.

“It’s in your extra deck?!” Sora explained, taken back for a moment before laughing, “Awesome! You’re so awesome, Teacher! Pendulum monsters go to the extra deck instead of the graveyard when they get destroyed?! I’ve never seen anything like this before! Pendulum monsters are the best!

Yui perked up at the statement,  _He’s right... They actually are!_   _Why didn’t I think of this before? Pendulum monsters are stupidly overpowered. If only Yuya’s using those cards, then, it’s actually not fair to people who duel him… This is going to be a problem._

“Well, if it’s not in the graveyard Scissor bear can’t equip it, so this attack and my turn ends here. I sure am looking forward to what you do next turn!” Sora luckily didn't see any problem and grinned brightly in anticipation.

“I’ll show you right now!” Yuya drew his next card, getting excited as well. “Cause  **the fun has just begun**  and now the whole cast is here. Everyone, watch closely! Currently on the stage we have, Scale One Magician of Astromancy and the scale Eight Magician of Chronomancy! Now, I summon multiple monsters from level two to seven! Sway, Pendulum of the soul! Draw an arc of light across the ether!  **PENDULUM SUMMON**! First, I’ll introduce you to a new pendulum monster! Level 2, Entermate Cheer Mole!” The pink cheerleader mole girl dug a little hole and hid shyly.

“And one more! Be revived in your brilliant glory, Odd-eyes Pendulum Dragon!” The red dual eyed dragon appeared on the scene in a flash.

Tatsuya and Futoshi looked on in wonder, “You can summon Pendulum monsters from your Extra Deck!”

“When they’re destroyed they get sent to the Extra Deck allowing you to bring them back as many times as you want! This is Pendulum’s other power!” Shuzou reiterated, excitedly, “This is amazing, Yuya! You Pendulum monsters are burning hot!”

“The more they say it, the more overpowered it’s sounding...” Yui muttered under her breath.

Nino looked over at her friend who was watching the duel with an analytical glare and muttering to herself, “Hey, Yui. You alright over there?”

Yui snapped back to reality and waved off her friends concern, “Huh? Oh yeah! Just watching the duel.” Nino looked unconvinced but didn’t push it.

“Now, let's have our friends on this dazzling stage, Take the lead! Once per turn Swordfish can lower one of my opponent's monsters ATK by 600! Here’s a little math quiz for you! What’s 3000 minus 600?”

“2400!” The kids explained.

Yuzu chimed in, “Odd-Eyes has 2400 ATK! It can destroy Scissor Bear!”

Sora pouted, “All I have left on the field is my Jack in the Box card from the last turn. But, even if I activate it, It’ll just be negated by Magician of Chronomancy effect. So knowing that, I won’t be able to prevent Scissor Bear’s destruction. But, even if you destroy Scissor Bear, I’ll only take 100 damage! You can't beat me with just that!”

Yuya grinned cheekily, “I wonder about that! Entermate Cheer Mole! It’s your turn to take the stage!” She hopped out of her hole with a squeak, “Now everyone your attention, please! It’s time for my cute little Cheer Mole’s performance!” Cheer Mole, making little noises shook her pom-poms and danced. “Cheer Mole’s effect allows her to power up one monster’s ATK by 1000 once per turn! Now Swordfish’s effect activates using Cheer Mole’s power-up!”

“His ATK lowering effect shoots up to 1600 from 600!” Tatsuya exclaimed.

“And when Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon battles a monster over Level 5 or over, the opponent takes double the damage! Battle phase! I attack Death Toy Scissor Bear with Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon! With those dual-colored eyes of yours, lay waste to all that you see! Spiral Strike Burst!” The attack sent Sora flying into a large pile of frosting and he popped his head out frowning disappointedly.

“He did it! Big Brother Yuya won!” The kids cheered while Yuzu sighed in relief.

Nino raised her arms in cheer, “Woo! Go Yuya!”

When the field disappeared, Sora remained on the floor looking downtrodden. Yuya walked over to him with a smile, “You remember what you promised, right? Since I won I can’t make you my apprenti-”

Before Yuya could finish, Sora launched himself upward into Yuya’s face, grinning from ear to ear, “Dueling with you was so cool, Yuya!”

“Huh? You’re using my first name now?”

“Well, I can't be your apprentice cause I lost, right? So, I figure I’ll be your friend instead! If we’re friends, I can call you by your first name right?” Sora explained.

Yuya pointed accusingly at the blue-haired boy, “Hey! you can’t just-”

Before he could finish Shuzou rushed over, “Oh, I see! You’re friends now! Students of Duel School are all on equal playing fields! So how ‘bout it? Want to join our school?”

Yui rolled her eyes at the man,  _Jeez, he sure is eager… Though I guess he’s right to be._

Sora perked up, “Yeah! This place is way more fun than LDS!” Shuzou cheered and ran off to get the paperwork.

“But, if you’re not an LDS student where did you learn how to Fusion Summon? Did someone train you?” Yuya asked.

Sora looked up at him in confusion, “Fusion? Well, where I used to live Fusion summoning is pretty par for the course.”

“Where fusion is normal? Like overseas?”

Sora grinned, “Aw, don’t sweat the details, Yuya. We’re friends now after all.”

Yuya frowned, “That’s not exactly a good reason, besides I never said you were my-”

A hand was placed gently on Yuya’s shoulder and grinned, “Nice to meet you, Yuya.”

“Alright, that’s it!” Yuya immediately began chasing the boy around the field in hopes of taking a page out of the Sakaki Yui handbook and putting him in a headlock.

* * *

About a week later, another day of duel training was over and the four oldest students of You Show were walking home together. Yuzu looked over at the Yui through narrowed eyes. She pinched her cheek between her index finger and thumb. “Yui… You’ve been ignoring my texts.”  

“Ow! I have no idea what you’re talking about,“ Yui looked away, sweating. Of course, she was ignoring her texts. Yuzu was most likely trying to get back to her about what happened during Yuya and Sawatari’s duel and she would sooner run home then tell her the truth.

Yuzu’s eyes furrowed in worry. Yui was like a little sister to her and there was obviously something wrong that she wasn’t sharing. She let go of Yui’s cheek, “Yui, if there’s something bothering you that you can’t talk about with your mom or Yuya you can always tell me if you want.”

_Ah, Crap._

Yui’s face fell. It was that look again. That worried look people sent her way sucked. It made her feel bad for making people worry about her in the first place. Though she probably could tell Yuzu about her troubles. She was pretty rational and understanding when it counted. But, would Yui actually take her up on it?

“Sure. If anything important comes up, I’ll absolutely consider it. Hey, look we’re coming up on your house.”

Of course not.

“You’re walking home with us today again?” Yuya looked down at Sora curiously as the two of them walked a few paces behind Yuzu and Yui. Sora had been walking home with them and then going about his business every day since he started.

Sora pouted and turned on his overly cute face, “Aw, Yuya! You don’t like me walking with you guys?”

Yuya rolled his eyes and clicked his tongue a bit, obviously being influenced by Yui’s mannerisms with a good-natured smile, “You’re new in town, right? I was just curious ‘cause I don’t know how far you live from here.”

“Don't worry about that, Yuya. My house is close enough to walk from yours.” Sora energetically patted Yuya’s back.

After dropping off Yuzu, it was only Sora and the Sakaki’s left and they were coming up on later’s places of residence. Before Sora would say goodbye and disappear into the wind like he always did, Yoko swung the door open, as if she’d heard them approach the house, “Hi, kids! Oh, Sora’s with you? Come in, come in! I just made dinner!”

Sora debated with himself and ended up saying yes without thinking about it. Maybe it was her motherly aura that made her impossible for him to say no to. He took the same seat across from Yuya that he’d taken before and for a while, during dinner, he’d actually felt like he was actually a part of their little family. This was bad. He’d better get out of this cozy little household quick.

“Thanks for dinner, Ms, Sakaki. It was delicious, but I gotta head home it’s getting kinda late,” Sora smiled brightly at Yoko as she took his plate and got up in preparation to leave.

Yoko’s face went serious, surprising the lot of them, “Yuya. Yui. Could you two go upstairs for a moment?” The two siblings looked at their mother, Sora, and then each other in confusion. Without a word they, obeyed and went upstairs. Usually, they would protest, but when Sakaki Yoko got serious it was best to just do what she says.

Sora was starting to feel just a bit nervous at his current situation. What could the Sakaki matriarch possible want with him? Despite this, his smile didn’t falter, “Uhm, Ms. Sakaki? Did I do something wrong?”

Yoko’s serious face shifted to surprise and then to a warm smile almost immediately, “Oh, no, no! You’re not in trouble or anything. I just wanted to ask you something.”

“Like what?”

“Well, hm, how do I say this?” She kneeled down closer to his height, “Shuzo, your teacher at You Show, mentioned a few things to me. Like, how your parents haven’t come to see him or sign any papers and the address and number you provided were fake. You’re always here early in the morning for breakfast as well...”

Sora’s blood ran cold. He’d figured since he was allowed to come that Shuzo was too desperate for new students to actually double-check his information. He’d glanced over at the front door just in case he needed an escape. It was starting to make sense why she’d invited him in. He shouldn’t have trusted-

“If you don’t actually have anywhere to go, we have plenty of space here.”

Huh?

“You can still go to You Show too, of course. Shuzo’s not mad. He’s worried about you too.”

Was this woman really trying to open up her house to a strange kid she’d met a week ago? What was she, a saint? Sora blinked at her in stunned silence. He’d been living somewhat better than a vagrant, shoplifting food and sometimes candy when he couldn't get anything good legally and utilizing his cuteness for most other necessities. He’d been fully prepared to, when he got Maiami City.

This was unprecedented...

Yoko gently grabbed his hands and brought them up to the same level as his chest, and smiled, “Well? Is everything okay? If not, you can stay here and I won't interrogate you any further. I’m sure Yui and Yuya would love to have you.”

“Hey, what do you think they’re talking about down there?” Yuya asked, clicking away at a white video game controller, lying on his stomach on his bed. Next to his bed was Yui, who sat comfortably in a large, red bean bag chair on the floor. A bright pink controller identical to Yuya’s was in her hand and she was clicking away as well while Peko was curled up in her lap.

“Probably trying to adopt him.” Yui chuckled a bit, not looking away from the brightly colored fighting game on the small television mounted on the wall.

“Yeah, right. Can you imagi- Damn it!” Yuya’s character went flying off the stage, making Yui the winner.

Yui leaned back in the chair with a satisfied grin on her face, “Ha, trash.”

“You were camping!”

“Hey, It’s called tactics and it worked.”

The door suddenly swung open, silencing the siblings for a moment. Sora was standing at their happily, “Guess who’s staying with you guys?!”

“Wha… WHAT!?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yui definitely mains Isabelle in smash. Thanks for reaching the end! The next chapter should be where things really start diverging a bit.  
> See you next time!


	3. Forgive and Forget

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Apparently, it takes a while for internet hate to blow over when you take people as hostages :) who knew?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, everyone still reading! I just wanna say Thank you and this is the first chapter where serious divergence starts happening! Yay! (Also, the first duel of many I'll have to write) I haven't played Yu-Gi-Oh in like, 7 years, so I've been re-learning the rules. Please bear with me. If I make any mistakes with the rules, feel free to mention it to me and I'll keep it in mind for future chapters. (I don't want to rewrite duels I write unless I hate it or the outcome has to change)

_“Sawatari Shingo, son of Mayoral frontrunner, Sawatari Furio, was caught on phone camera holding a group of kids hostages right under the noses of LDS in their central court, no less! From the context of the duel, it seems like Sawatari was trying to steal the cards of the same boy the defeated Strong Ishijima, Sakaki Yu-”_ The annoyingly upbeat YuuView reporter was cut short by a quick thumb tap from the one and only Sawatari Shingo. The boy in question was, at that moment, hiding under a slide in an empty playground surrounded by trees.

“Why is this happening to me?! It’s been two weeks! Why hasn’t this blown over yet?!” Shingo whispered frantically, scrolling down a forum talking vigorously about his most recent screw-up. The task was supposed to be easy! Take the cards and no would find out! Yuya would probably get his cards back and he’d be rewarded! Now everyone thinks he’s some kind of a horrible monster and the LDS higher up’s would ruin his life even more if he ever tried to explain why he did it! There were reporters waiting to hound him outside his house and LDS. On top of that, his so-called friends had claimed that he forced them to grab Yuya’s friends, so they’re in the clear and now pretend they don't know him.

Sawatari had been replaying the entire event over and over again since the video got out on YuuView. He’d never regretted anything more in his life. Naturally, he wanted to blame Yuya for his misfortunes, but the more he thought about it, the more couldn’t without feeling stupid. Every line of thought ended with none of this even happening if he’d never approached him in the first place. He wasn’t justified. In fact, he’d come to the realization that if Yuya hadn’t been able to save his friends and sister from falling he’d probably be getting sued right now. Or worse, doing actual jail time.

The only person left on his side was his dad, for better or worse. All he could hope for was that his image and chances of becoming mayor weren’t being thrown out the window because of him.

“Ughhh. ...His sister was totally right to punch me,” He whined running his hands over his face.

Oh, how the mighty have fallen.

“Huh? This place hasn’t been demolished yet? The equipment’s all dented up still,” A familiar voice asked.

And apparently, if you speak of the devil she’ll appear.

“Yeah, it’s kind of an occult spot now. The haunted playground~ If you stay here at night you’ll see ghoooosts…! Ooooo~” Another more cheerful voice responded, making her voice sound faux scary. She took a light blue phone out of her white flower shaped shoulder bag and took a picture of the park. Sawatari’s pale face was already damp with sweat. He peered out from behind the slide and spotted the two girls. Sakaki Yui and Hanasaki Nino. It wasn't ideal but, at least they weren't reporters.

“Nino...” Yui looked as if she’d swallowed something bitter.

She continued to take pictures, “Aw, cmon, Yui! It’s kinda funny! And occult stuff is cool,” Yui groaned when Nino walked over to her and took a picture of them. 

The Fukushu playground was the main place she’d don her mask and challenge bullies to duels a few years back. Rumors got spread telephone style and eventually, Mascarade became some sort of phantom story for kids to tell each other. The dents and damage in the equipment from her last duel as Mascarade were still there, but It was a pretty park. One of the few places in the city almost completely surrounded by trees. Yui glanced over by the slide and noticed a shadow moving underneath it, “Nino, did you see that?”

Nino turned her head in the direction Yui was looking in, “See what now?”

Sawatari felt his heart beating in his chest. Did they see him? What kind of horrible luck did he have for them to show up in the same afternoon that he happened to be there? Maybe if he got away quickly enough he could-

“Shingo?”

Nino suddenly appeared on her knees peeking under the slide barely a foot away from his face. With an undignified scream, Sawatari slid himself backward towards Yui who was peeking in on the other side. Nino gave him an unimpressed look and a raised eyebrow, “Shingo, what’re you doing?”

Sawatari looked away in shame, not wanted to meet her gaze.

Nino huffed and got under the slide, “Alright, out from under there,” she put her bag down and hooked her arms under Sawatari’s armpits, making him yelp in surprise before trying to struggle in her grasp.

“Argh...! Let go of me!” Sawatari, cried when the girl dragged him out from under the swing,

Now that he was out in the afternoon light, it was easy to see that Sawatari looked terrible. He must not have had much sleep for a while, judging from the bags under his eyes. He was wearing a short-sleeved black t-shirt, a black face mask, green jeans and a dark red beanie with some of his hair sticking out. Yui wouldn't have recognized him right away if she’d seen him on the street, Nino, on the other hand, could tell it was him by his eyes and the hair peeking out of his hat. Honestly, she’d intended to tell him off for being a jerk to her friends when she saw him but, she couldn’t help but pity him, the way he looked, “Man, you look like crap...”

“Yeah, thanks…” The boy looked absolutely downtrodden.

 Yui walked around the slide approaching the childhood friends, “So... hiding from the reporters, huh?” She should have been more furious with Sawatari and she was at first but after a while, he became something of a cartoon character in her head. The Sawatari Yuya dueled weeks ago was so much like one of those season one idiot villains on TV that are more annoying than evil. Spending time out of her day hating on him just felt silly. As long as her friends and brother were alright now, it was fine. Of course, that didn’t mean she wouldn’t still make fun of him a little.

He laughed humorlessly before his face fell again, “It’s that obvious, huh...?”

_Wow, I actually feel kinda bad for him..._

“Shingo, I dunno what’s been up with you lately but, It definitely doesn't warrant stealing and putting people in danger. Why’d you did even do that?” Nino tried to be as soothing as possible while also scolding him. Seeing her old friend like this hurt.

Sawatari sighed and looked at the ground at the question, “Akaba Reiji asked me too.”

Nino took a second to process his answer and audibly gasped, “WHAT?!”

Yui looked between them curiously not incredibly familiar with the name, “Wait, that name sounds familiar.”

“Akaba Reiji is Akaba Leo, founder of LDS’, son and the current CEO of Leo Corp,” Nino explained to Yui, still reeling from the new information.

“You’re telling me the CEO of a giant company instructed you a teenager to steal cards from my brother… another teenager...” Yui asked incredulously. It seemed absolutely ridiculous. But, considering the trouble Sawatari is having, it kind of made sense.

“Well, I mean. He’s a teenager too...” Sawatari said.

Yui clicked her tongue, “He’s a teenager who must have something better to do with his time...”

“That’s so crazy! He must have asked you cause we all go to the same school...” Nino said, coming down from her shock.

The gears in Yui’s mind started turning at this information, “If he’s the CEO and he asked you to take the cards then that means he was probably watching the whole time and could have stopped the duel at any time,” Yui’s face screwed up in annoyance and folded her arms, “Did he ever tell you why he wanted them?”

Sawatari shook his head, “No, but I’m assuming since he was the one who told me how to use them that he must want to mass produce them or something. LDS has got a huge monopoly on summoning methods. I mean, It’s not like I didn’t want the cards, but... I wouldn’t have gone after Yuya like that if he hadn’t asked me to. I couldn't really say no. I wanted to explain why I did it to the press but, he basically forced me into silence so, please don't tell anyone what I’m telling you.”

“I won't tell if that’s what you want but, you’re going to have to tell Yuya and the others about all this,” Yui said, with a serious look on her face.

“Wh-What!?” He went pale.

Yui folded her arms, “Yuya, Yuzu, and the kids are just as much a part of this I am. It’d be weird if you only told me and Nino.”

Sawatari looked down at his hands. Could he face Yuya? “But, I don't know if I can...”

“Shingo,” Nino put her hands on his shoulders, “It’s important to fess up to your mistakes and take responsibility for them even it sucks super hard,” Sawatari looked up at her and a bright grin appeared on her face, “Besides the You Show gang is full of great people! I’m sure they’ll understand if you just explain it. I believe in you, Shingo! Hey, me and Yui’ll even come with you.”

Yui raised an eyebrow, ”I’m sorry, what?”

Sawatari’s eyes welled up with large animated tears, and he dramatically cried while hugging Nino, “Thank you, Hanasaki!”

“Holy sh- Shingo! You don't have to thank me!” Nino removed Sawatari from her person and stood up, “C’mon, we can go to You Show right now!”

Yui walked over to her and squeezed her shoulder, looking annoyed, “Y’know, I didn't agree to any of this.”

“Aw, c’mon, Yui. Look at him. You Show is the best place for him to go right now. Besides, you were the one who suggested he go.” Nino whispered to her.

Yui clicked her tongue, “Fine, I wasn’t trying to go to school today, but whatever...”

* * *

 

As it turned out, Sawatari’s mask and disguise combo worked well enough to not garner any unwanted attention as the three of them made their way to the school and he was unendingly thankful for that.

“Sakaki?” Sawatari called.

Yui looked back at him, “Hmm?”

“I’m sorry.”

She threw up her eyebrows in surprise, “Huh?”

“I, uh, just realized that I never properly apologized to you,” He bowed his head before Yui, “I’m sorry! For all the terrible things I-”

Yui held her hands out towards Sawatari, “Woah, woah! Okay, I’ve already forgiven you! Just- stop what you’re doing right now cause, it’s really freaking me out.”

Sawatari lifted his head and stared at the girl in visible shock. She already forgave him? “You… Really?”

“Yeah,” Yui sighed, rubbing the back of her head and looking away, “I mean, I was pissed at first but, we all ended up fine and well… You seem to be getting enough crap from a ton of people already. There’s no point in me adding to it… Besides, the way you’re looking right now, I can imagine you regret what happened.”

“Th-Thank you!”

“Don't mention it. Please. And just call me Yui.”

Watching the exchange between them made Nino’s happy. Maybe she’d get the less jerky and annoying Shingo as her friend again.

Not far from the trio’s path, a somewhat familiar looking girl was walking in the opposite direction brooding as if she’d just gotten into an argument with someone. Her long dark purple hair bounced with every aggravated step she took. Yui glanced over at her for a moment and caught her eyes as she walked past them. She had on a mask that covered half her face, similar to Sawatari’s, but her pink colored eyes were what caught her attention.

_Huh… If I didn’t know any better... I’d say that girl was-_

“Yuzu!” Nino’s voice snapped her from her thoughts. Yui turned her head and lo and behold there were Yuzu and Ayu walking on the path perpendicular to the straight path they were walking on with a large bag.

Yuzu turned to them and her previously pouting face lit up, “Nino! Yui! Hey! Wait… Who’s that with them?”

The trio sped up, Sawatari a bit hesitantly, towards the two. Yui looked down at their plastic bag filled with ice cream bars, “Heh, shopping for the boys?”

Yuzu went back to pouting, “Can you believe them? If they wanted ice cream so much, they should just go get it themselves!”

Nino grinned cheekily, “You say that but, you still got it for them anyway. A lot of it too.”

Ayu laughed, “That’s what I said! By the way, who’s that hiding behind you?”

Yui and Nino looked behind them and realized Sawatari was standing directly behind them, trying to look as inconspicuous as possible. The two girls moved out of the way and gestured towards the boy, “It’s Sawatari!” Nino cheered. He flinched at the introduction.

Yuzu and Ayu paused for a moment, “EH?! Sawatari?!”

“What’s he doing with you guys?!” Yuzu exclaimed. She glared at him in suspicion.

He cringed under her glare, “...I-I wanted to apologize for the things I’ve done to you guys… and to explain why I did it,” Sawatari was trying his best to look confident.

“So we’re taking him to You Show,” Yui added.

Yuzu and Ayu looked skeptical, “Hmm, I dunno. Are you sure it's a good idea to bring him there?” Yuzu asked.

“Well, it’s not like he can go anywhere else. His house has been swamped with reporters and he’s on probation at LDS. I’ll vouch for him if you want. Pleeeease, Yuzu?” Nino wrapped her arms around Yuzu’s shoulders in a side hug and rubbed her cheek against hers. Yuzu looked at Sawatari who was looking away from the girls and rubbing the back of his head. Had he really learned his lesson?

“Mmm, alright. I’ll hear him out.”

Nino raised her arms in celebration, “Yay!” She grabbed Sawatari’s wrist, making his face flush under his mask, and started running towards You Show, “Let’s go! Right now!”

“H-Hanasaki, waaaait!”

“Wha- Nino, hold on!” Yuzu and Ayu began chasing after two, leaving Yui behind, who shook her head and sighed heavily before chasing after the four kids.

Standing in front of You Show were Nino and Sawatari, who’d made it there first, “Boy you sure are out of shape, Shingo.” Nino said only a little winded from their run.

“That’s hardly fair… I couldn't even run... properly… You dragged me here, ” Sawatari huffed, leaning against the wall of the school.

She turned to him, grinning, “You feel a little better though, right?” Her bright smile made his face heat up again.

“Yeah, I guess…” He mumbled, behind his mask. He actually did feel a little better. Nino used to drag him around just like that when they were kids. He kinda missed it. He kinda missed her.

“Nino! Sawatari!” Before he could answer, Yuzu and Ayu followed by Yui finally caught up with them.

Nino, waived at the three You Show students who were approaching, “Heyyy, you guys caught up!”

“Did you have to go running off like that?” Yui asked, looked annoyed.

Nino laughed and gave her a quick hug, “So~rry!.”

* * *

 

Inside the main room of the school, Yuya, Sora, Tatsuya, and Futoshi were lounging on the couches. Yuzu, who was the first to walk in followed by Ayu, Sawatari, Nino and Yui, respectively, held up the bag of Ice Cream looking away from them

“Yay, Ice Cream!” The kids cheered, excitedly going for the bag.

“Why’re you guys sweating? Did you run or something?” Yuya asked, taking his own Ice Cream out of the bag.

“We did actually!” Nino moved into their view pushing Sawatari’s back towards the group of boys on the couch, “Hi, Yuya~”

“I’m here too.” Yui poked her head out from behind Nino.

“Yui! You didn’t come to class,” Yuya pointed out, emphasizing the fact by actually pointing at her, to which Yui shrugged dismissively, “Who’s your friend by the way?”

Nino patted Sawatari’s back supportively. He hesitantly took his mask off and the boys eyes flew open, “Sawatari?!” He waved awkwardly.

Yuya stood up, seeing Sawatari as a threat for obvious reasons. His protective gaze was firm, “Why are you-”

Before he could finish, Sawatari bowed forward so deeply his body was almost angled at 90 degrees, “I’m sorry!”

A look of goofy confusion melted over Yuya’s face, “...H-Huh?”

“You have no reason to forgive me… But, I seriously and honestly regret what I did to you guys! I’m sorry!” Sawatari’s eyes were shut tight, waiting for one of them to speak.

Yuya and the You Show boys were so shocked none of them could say a thing. Even Yuzu and Ayu were surprised at his apology despite knowing why he was here. After a couple more seconds of awkward silence, Sora spoke up, “Ah, I get it. All the bad press made you come here, right? Apologizing to make yourself look better?”

The blonde shot up from his bowing position, “Wh- No! I actually want to apologize! ...People aren't going to start talking to me again just because I apologize, anyway,” He expected to be chastised in one way or another, but Sawatari found himself, in his own head, pleading for them to believe him.

Yuya relaxed and his face softened a bit. Sawatari did look sorry, in more ways than one, “Alright, I’ll believe you, Sawatari.”

Sawatari smiled, “Thanks.”

Sawatari went over the situation with them, explaining the fact that he was hired by Akaba Reiji to steal his cards and everyone in the room who wasn’t already aware of what happened, looked at the boy in shock.

“The CEO of Leo Corp. wanted Yuya’s pendulum cards?” Yuzu repeated in surprise.

“Yeah… he allowed the duel. I, mean, I had you guys put on top of the tower to get Yuya to duel me, but uh… yeah I was acting like a real jerk,” Sawatari, who at this point was sitting on the couch between Nino and Yui, rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment, “I didn’t mean for you guys to actually get hurt or anything, though”

“Honestly,” Yui started, “I’m less upset at you, who at least feels bad about it, than I am at the ones who allowed the duel to happen, gave you the go-ahead to do what you did, and tried to use someone else to steal duel monster cards from a bunch of kids and teenagers.”

Yuya looked understandably upset, “Yeah. How could they do something like that? It was Solid Vision, but would they have stopped the duel before something really bad actually happened?”

Yuzu hummed, “Do you think we could make some kind of complaint about it? It did happen in their own court and Nino said there’s video of-”

“W-Wait! You guys can't tell anyone about this!” Sawatari started waving hands frantically, “‘They’ll have my head and yours too probably If you did that!”

“There’s nothing we can do?” Ayu asked. Tatsuya and Futoshi wilted.

Sora finished his third ice cream bar and spoke up, “Well… Leo Corp. _is_ a big powerful company. There's probably not much we can do alone.”

A wave of silence washed over the group.

“Oh, oh! I have an idea! Maybe we can leak info online anonymously, and make it blow up!” Nino stood up trying to lighten up the mood.

“Sawatari said there would be trouble if he told anyone, right? Won’t that be a little dangerous?” Sora asked.

“Yeah, LDS is powerful enough to stop the circulation of any information that might hurt it’s reputation,” Yui said.

Nino hummed, “They don’t have to know it was Shingo who said anything, right? It could be really vague or something. Those things blow up online fast. Even if it's not a lot, maybe we can get an apology for you guys at the very least and take some heat off Shigo.”

“I don't know…” Sawatari looked worried.

Nino waved him off, “It’s fine! Let me see if I can find something on my ph-,” She reached for her bag onto find empty space. Her heart dropped into her stomach and she started frantically looking around the room, “Nino? What’re you looking for?” Yuya asked.

“D-Did you guys see me come in with a bag?” She looked back, her voice quivering.

Yui looked concerned, “Oh my god… Nino, did you-”

“Oh my god!” Nino’s face went blue and she pressed both hands to her face, “I… I LEFT MY BAG AT THE PARK!” Without another word Nino bolted out the room and out of You Show.

“Nino, wait!” Yui shot up from her seat and took off after her.

Sawatari looked between the other kids and the door nervously for a couple of beats, “I, uh… I think I’ll help them look.” He awkwardly got up and headed for the door, before chasing after the two girls.

* * *

 

“I CANT BELIEVE I DID THAT!” Nino yelled, sprinting down the street. Multiple eyes turned to her and the two other kids giving chase close behind.

“We’re gonna find your bag, Nino. Calm down!” Yui yelled catching up to her.

“But, all my LDS stuff is in there! Not to mention my deck!” She yelled back. A masked figure who’d been standing in a nearby alleyway heard them loud and clear and disappeared into the shadows.

“N-No more running…” Sawatari heaved, holding himself up on the jungle gym, when the three of them reached the park.

Yui groaned, sprawled out on the slide a couple of feet from him, “I second that…”

“It’s still here!” Nino exclaimed, ducking under the slide. She’d been so motivated to help Sawatari, that she’d forgotten to pick her bag back up, “And everything still here. Thank god this place is abandoned...”

As if on cue, A purple and black haired boy in a mask and goggles and appeared in front of them. He wore a black cape and a red scarf, looking like some sort closet cosplayer. Through his goggles, his gaze was seemingly stuck on Nino and the LDS pin on her shirt, “Uhm… Can we help you?”

Instead of answering, he approached them, glancing only for a moment at Sawatari and staring at Yui for a couple of seconds, as if he was trying to remember something before stopping a few feet from Nino, “Wow, this park really is a hub for weird people in masks to show up out of nowhere…”

Yui, got up from the slide and stood next to Nino, “Excuse me?”

She flashed Yui a toothy grin, “Just kidding~”

“Who is this guy? He’s kinda ominous,” Sawatari said, joining the girls.

The boy swung his cape back and revealed a strange looking duel disk. A silent challenge to a duel, “I have no idea but, it looks like he’s looking for a challenge,” Nino said.

“I left my house without thinking, so my duel disk is at home.”

“I didn’t feel like dueling today. Which is why I didn't go to class.”

“Of course... I guess I’m dueling then,” Nino sighed before pulling out a baby blue rectangular object from her bag and placing it on her wrist. A grin appeared on her face as he duel disk opened up, ”But, I don’t mind. There’s still a good amount of daylight left. Let’s get it on!”

**DUEL!**

* * *

 

Yui hopped up on the top platform of the jungle gym to watch the duel from above and invited Sawatari to follow. The black and purple haired boy took first turn and drew, “I set all cards from my hand faced down! I end my turn.”

Nino, Yui and Sawatari and Sawatari looked at the mystery boy in shock, “Uhm… Is this some sort of joke?” Nino asked, incredulously.

Sawatari let out a bit of a laugh at the play, “I can't believe it… he came here trying to act cool and he starts off like that? This isn't going to last long.”

“They just started. You should know better than underestimating a first turn that looks bad, Sawatari,” Yui said, raising an eyebrow. He froze at the remark and quickly turned his eyes back to the duel in embarrassment.

_It’s kind of obvious that at least one of those spells and/or traps are important if he’s leaving himself open like that._

“I ended my turn,” The masked boy said, curtly.

Nino flinched back at his hostility, “What’re you so serious for? Moodkiller... My turn, Draw! Hmm... those face downs are an issue so let's get rid of those. I activate the effect of Ghostrick Siren from my hand and special summon her,” a small fair skinned bird girl with long white hair in a black dress appeared on the field. She had dark purple wings for arms, her knees were feathered and she had bird talons for feet.

“I activate Ghostrick Siren’s effect: Since I have no face-down monsters on my side of the field, I can destroy up to 3 face-down cards on the field. Shattering Screech!” Ghostrick Siren opened up her mouth revealing her sharp teeth and let out a scream that whipped the air around and the boys first three cards were destroyed. Nino’s bangs were blown back and she looked around in shock.

“This isn’t an action field. Why is there real wind?” Sawatari exclaimed, shielding his eyes from the wild. Yui was frozen in place unable to even reply to him.

_What the hell is happening?_

Nino’s head swung up to look at Yui, as if she was asking her if this as her doing. Yui looked down at her in a quiet, wide-eyed panic and shook her head no, making Sawatari look between them with a raised eyebrow. Yui’s gaze quickly switched over to the masked boy who didn’t seem the least bit concerned by the wind. Who was this guy? Was he like her? Why did it seem like he was targeting Nino?

Nino looked down at her hand, now fully aware of what she was dealing with and hesitated as she pulled a card out, “I activate the spell card, Twin Twisters! By discarding another card, I can destroy your last two spells or traps on the field.” True to the name of the card, a pair of tornadoes appeared on the field, nearly knocking Sawatari off the top of the jungle gym in surprise by the sudden powerful winds. The tornadoes made their way towards the boy and destroyed the last two cards on his field.

“Yeah, now you have no more cards on your field or hand!” Sawatari cheered, “Huh. This sure is a poor performance. Are you sure you’re not giving him too much credit, Sak- Yui?”

Yui was snapped from her thoughts and turned her head to him, “Hmm… Maybe. I try not to expect anyone to not have something up their sleeve, ya know?”

Sawatari eyed the masked boy in question, “He’s got no more cards and Hanasaki can still summon again and attack. What else can he do?”

“Now, I summon Ghostrick Stein!” A blue colored Frankenstein’s monster in a red jacket appeared on the field. “I attack you directly with him! Electric Rampage!” Stein clenched his fists and electricity came out from the bolts in his head.

The boy outstretched his hand, “I activate the effect of the spell card in my graveyard: Phantom Knights Shadow Veil!”

“EH?!” Sawatari exclaimed, “He’s activating a spell card from the graveyard?!”

“Well, it looks like something just came flying out of his sleeve.”

“When a direct attack is declared, I can special summon as many of these cards as possible,” He summoned three shadow knights on horses, “When these cards are special summoned using this effect, instead of being sent to the graveyard they’re banished instead!”

“No wonder he set all those cards… I guess he needs some walls with no monsters in his hand,” Sawatari said.

Yui looked closer at the field, _3 of the same monster on the field at once…? He’s going to XYZ summon?_

“That’s fine, I’ll just destroy one of them. Go Stein! Destroy Shadow Veil” The monster approached the horsemen and brought his large fists now charged with electricity down on it.

“When it’s destroyed, Shadow Veil is sent to the graveyard and then is banished.”

Nino hummed in curiosity, “I’m glad I was right about those cards, luckily there’s no harm done just yet. But, there could be another card in his graveyard that reacts to something I do… I guess we’ll have to see next turn. I set a card and end my turn.”

“There won’t be a next turn for you,” The masked boy said, ominously.

“Huh?” Nino blinked, incredulously.

“My turn, Draw! I thought you’d put up more of a fight, but… Your dueling… I don't feel the sharpness of a blade or the power of a bullet in it. Not even a fragment...”

Sawatari’s face twisted into something between disbelief and confusion, “That… is actually kinda cringy.”

Yui silently agreed, watching the duel intently. _Why is this guy acting like Nino is some final boss in a video game…_

Nino flinched back at the accusation and glared angrily at the masked boy, “What’re you even talking about?! Just who do you think you are!?”

“No more talk. The conditions have been met. When there are two monsters with the same level on my field, my deck's true power is shown! **I use the two level four shadow veil’s to construct the overlay network!** ” With a wave of his hand, his two monsters disappeared into the twirling light between them.

_I was right he’s going to XYZ summon! Could he be someone from Nino’s class?_

Sawatari leaned over the bar of the jungle gym, “Wait a minute! Is he gonna-”

“ **Forged from the pitch-black darkness, to fight those foolish enough to oppose its treacherous fangs! Descend, now! Rank 4! Dark Rebellion XYZ Dragon!** ” A huge black and purple dragon flashily appeared on the field surrounded by lightning,

Nino, fist unclenched, stared up at the new monster with wide eyes, “O-Oh my god… That thing is awesome looking…”

The boy’s eyes darkened and he reached his hand out towards her monster, “Dark rebellion, attack Ghostrick Siren! Revolt of Lightning Disobey!” Nino braced herself as the large black dragon fired lightning at her monster destroying it. Nino was thrown off her feet, luckily she missed the equipment and landed on the soft padding. Her life points fell to 2700.

Yui and Sawatari called out to Nino in concern. The masked boy walked over to Nino and looked down on her as she was trying to get up, “It would be in your best interest to answer me properly because I’m only going to ask you this once.” He held up an LDS pin and pulled off his goggles to better stare down Nino, “Is this badge from LDS? How are you connected to Academia?”

Nino sat crossed legged on the floor, glaring up annoyedly at the boy, “What the hell are you talking about? Everyone enrolled in LDS has that and I have no idea what you mean by Academia.”

“Don’t play stupid with me!”

“I’m not!” Nino stood up and got into the boy's face which even close up was well hidden behind his mask. She boldly pressed her finger into his chest, “You were the one who appeared out of nowhere! You were the one issuing challenges without saying a word! Now you wanna talk and you’re accusing me of stuff I know nothing about! Why’re you being such a giant prick!?” With every sentence, Nino poked his chest a little harder.

The boy looked down at her finger and back up to her face, unphased, “You know nothing about Academia?”

Nino removed her finger and put her hands on her hips, “I’ve said that twice already...”

“Then, I have no business with you...” He turned away from her and walked back towards his monster.

“Ohh no! No way! This duel isn’t over,” Nino huffed and held up a card, “I activate the effect of Ghostrick Mary from my hand! When I take damage I can discard this card and Special Summon 1 Ghostrick monster from my Deck in face-down Defense Position.” She pulled a card from her deck and placed it faced down in the same place Ghostrick Siren was.

The boy looked back at her and saw a new fire in her eyes, “...I place one card face down and end my turn.”

“Man, can you believe that guy? What’s his damn problem,” Sawatari said eyes narrowed at the boy.

Yui’s eyes were boring into the Masked boy, _This guy… I think he has the same power I do... Academia… what is that and why is this guy looking for LDS students… I have to talk to him._

”My turn, Draw! I flip summon Ghostrick Jiangshi in defense mode.” A white skinned child with a spell tag on his face appeared on the field, “His effect activates! I can add from my Deck to my hand, 1 Ghostrick monster whose Level is less than or equal to the number of Ghostrick monsters I control which is 2. I summon Ghostrick Mummy from my hand! While Ghostrick Mummy is face-up on the field I can normal summon a Ghostrick monster one extra time and I summon Ghostrick Witch! I activate her effect: I can target 1 face-up monster you control and change it to face-down Defense Position. Down goes your Dragon!” The masked boy clicked his tongue at his monster being rendered useless.

Sawatari was visibly impressed with the display, “She’s got four monsters on the field now just like that! But, Dark Rebellion’s defense is still higher than any of her monsters attack...”

“Wait for it...” Yui said with a small grin.

Nino reached her hand out towards the field, “ **I use my level three Ghostrick Mummy and Ghostrick Stein to construct the overlay network!** ” The two bulky monsters were pulled into the swirl of light. The masked boy’s eyes were wide in shock. He pulled off his mask in pure shock.

“You’re LDS but, you’re XYZ summoning?!”

“Her too?! I totally forgot she was in the XYZ class!” Sawatari exclaimed, completely distracted by Nino’s XYZ summon to notice the boy.

More Specifically his face.

Yui, seemingly the only person to notice the now unmasked boy’s face, leaned herself over the bars and rubbed her eyes to make sure she wasn't hallucinating, “H-He looks just like-”

“ **Undead monster… Ruler of the night… Bare your legendary fangs and drain the life of those who even think of challenging your might! Behold the King of Vampires! XYZ summon! Rank 3! Ghostrick Aluca-** ”

“Yui, Nino, Sawatari!” Yui’s head swung at a near neck-breaking speed at the new voice to grace the field. Yuya and Yuzu were jogging up to the duel when Yuzu’s bracelet started to glow pink, making her almost fall over in surprise, Yuya only just barely caught her. With that flash, the boy was gone and the duel was suddenly over.

“Wh- Where’d he go?!” Nino yelled, stormily looking around for where the boy could possibly have run off to. “I can’t believe him! I didn’t even get to finish summoning Alucard!”

* * *

 

The reds and oranges of a setting sun dyed the skyline as the once again masked boy walked through the harbor. He stopped in front of a seemingly abandoned warehouse and entered it. When it was first found, there was a green couch and a few amenities to make it a decent hangout for whoever put it there and a decent hideout for them. Upon entering, there was a girl with purple hair seated on the couch pouting as she looked through her deck.

“Ruri… He’s still not back yet?” the boy asked, closing the warehouse door behind him.

She looked up and her face lit up, “Yuto!" Her face fell, “No, he's not back. He’s off doing god knows what...”

Yuto removed his cape, mask, and goggles and took a seat next to her, interlocking their fingers together, “You’re still not talking to him?”

“There has to be a better way, Yuto. Attacking people and taking hostages would make us just as bad as the people we call our enemies...” She looked down and clenched her other fist in her lap. Ruri looked back up at Yuto, “I was taking a walk today to clear my head and this dimension is just like ours before… well, I don’t want to bring the violence we went through to this place.”

“Neither do I... Speaking of which- I, uh, _looked_ into the badges from LDS today,” Yuto said, not mentioning the method he used to get the information. Explaining how he suddenly disappeared from the duel before it ended would’ve been impossible anyway.

“What about them?”

”It seems that it’s just a trinket to identify who goes to the school and who doesn't. The person I spoke to today was an LDS student, but she used XYZ. I doubt she had any ties to Academia.”

Ruri’s eyes flew open, “Really?” She exclaimed, putting both hands on Yuto’s shoulders, “That means when can go about this differently! Maybe Shun will finally stop being stubborn and listen to me!” Her clasped together in joy.

Yuto smiled at Ruri’s new exuberance. He’d been worried about her since her argument with Shun but, luckily he was able to bring her bright smile back. It made his heart swell, “What exactly do you have in mind?”

She put a hand over her mouth and giggled, “You’ll see.”

Okay, now he was worried again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not super proud of this chapter but, Yay Ruri's here! I was so annoyed about the girls getting shafted (among other things), that I brought Ruri in!
> 
> See you next time!
> 
>  
> 
> Ghostrick Siren  
> Card Type: Monster  
> Attribute: Dark  
> Type: Winged Beast / Effect  
> level: 2  
> ATK / DEF 1200 / 1400
> 
> Cannot be Normal Summoned, unless you control a "Ghostrick" monster. Once per turn: You can change this card to face-down Defense Position. When you have no cards on your side of the field and your opponent does, you can special summon this card face up on the field from your hand. While this card face up on the field and there are no facedown monsters on your side of the field you can destroy 3 cards on the field. This card cannot attack the turn this effect is activated.


	4. A Friendly Challenge

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Himeka is an absolute snake and it's kinda shady to hang out in warehouses.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! Here's another chapter! Thanks for the comments and Kudos and stuff I really appreciate it! Welp, let's get this show on the road!
> 
> Happy Reading!

_“Wh- Where’d he go?!” Nino yelled, stormily looking around for where the boy could possibly have run off to. “I can’t believe him! I didn’t even get to finish summoning Alucard!”_

_Sawatari huffed indignantly, “Vanished as quickly as he appeared...”_

_“He… He looked just like Yuya… A little off-model, but they had the same face,” Yui said, still shell shocked._

_Sawatari turned to her, “Who did?”_

_Yui’s eyes didn't leave the spot the boy disappeared from until she registered Sawatari’s voice, “Wh- Didn't you see his face? The guy dueling Nino looked exactly like Yuya! Their faces were the same!”_

_The blonde down at her in confusion. It was strange seeing the usually calm and collected Yui freaking out like this, “I, uh, I didn't see. I was watching Hanasaki’s XYZ summon.”_

_Yui, looking up at Sawatari, groaned in frustration and expertly climbed down the jungle gym, “Nino!” She approached the girl in question, who was still fuming at the unfinished duel. As Yui got closer, Nino closed the gap and hugged her, rubbing her cheek against hers._

_“Yuiiii! I’ve been made a fool of! He didn’t let me finish my summon!” Nino whined._

_“It’s all right. I’m sure he just ran off in the middle of your summon to avoid a loss,” Yui sighed and patted her friends back, “But… Did you see his face?”_

_Nino stopped her dramatics at the question. Yui’s tone of voice sounded weirdly strained, “What?”_

_Yui removed Nino from her person so she could properly look at her face, “That guy took off his mask off while you were XYZ summoning. He looked exactly like Yuya.”_

_“Did he?” Nino was a bit nervous under her bestie’s serious gaze, “I didn't get to see his face… But, are you sure he looked like Yuya? I mean, you were pretty far away from the both of ‘em. ”_

_Yui’s face fell and she dropped hands to her sides, “You don't believe me.”_

_“Wait, It’s not that I don't believe you,” Nino said quickly, well aware of what Yui was probably thinking, “I believe that you’re seeing something. You can see things I can’t and I know that. I don't want you to get all anxious. Just calm down. Besides, that guy making that wind real is way more suspicious than him possibly looking like Yuya, right?”_

_“What’s that about me?” Yuya asked, approaching the two girls with Yuzu close behind._

_Yui and Nino flinched turning to Yuya in surprise and quickly replied, “Nothing!”_

* * *

 Yuya sighed, finding Shuzo’s repetitive lesson incredibly dull and glanced over at Yui, who was seated at the far end of the room. She looked like she was thinking hard about something and his eyebrows furrowed. Something had been off about her for- well, for a while now. He wanted to ask her about it. He wanted to try and get her to talk to him, but he was sure she’d say that it was nothing again. Yuya wasn't the most perceptive person in the world, but he’d like to think he knows his little sister. At least he hoped he did. When did things start being like this? They used to be much closer than this.

Yui, on the other hand, was mulling over yesterday’s events instead of paying attention in class.

 _That boys face being like Yuya’s is bothering me so much… I can't stop thinking about it..,_ Yui thought, biting her thumbnail, _Man, I wish I could’ve skipped today too and see if I could run into him again but, Mom would tear me a new one if I did that…_

She glanced over at Yuya who looked just as disinterested in class as her and saw the boy from yesterday's face overlapped with his in her head for a moment. Yui considered mentioning it to him, since he already knew about the duel from Nino anyway, but decided to go with her gut feeling telling her not too, _If I did that, I’d probably end up having to explain all the other freaky things going on with me too… I’m going to have to eventually aren't, I?_

A groan of boredom came from Ayu and Futoshi, which Yui wholeheartedly agreed with. Was anyone other than Tatsuya and Yuzu even paying attention? She looked around the room, Sora was at least enjoying his deserts behind a book but, no one else looked interested in Shuzo’s lesson.

Yuya leaned over to Sora, “Hey, if you get caught eating in class, Yuzu’s fan will-” Before Yuya could finish his warning, Yuzu had smacked both Sora and Yuya with her paper fan.

“Ow…,” Sora whined holding his head.

“Why, me too?!” Yuya exclaimed.

Yui thanked whoever was listening that Yuzu didn't notice her spacing during Shuzo’s painfully basic class. She wasn't especially excited to duel, for reasons she didn’t feel like thinking about, but Yui was sure that Nino’s XYZ classes had to be less sleep-inducing than this, even if she tended to skip them, _That Yuya look-alike used XYZ… A powerful one at that. I wonder if he was from LDS..._

“Jeez! Can’t you guys pay attention?” Yuzu huffed.

“It’s not our fault,” Ayu chimed in, “We already know all this stuff like the back of our hand.”

Futoshi nodded, “After seeing all those cool duels, going back to the basics is boooooring.”

Shuzo grinned, understanding the kid's frustration, “Alright, then! We’ll talk about fusion summoning next. Sora- Yes, Yui?”

“What do you know about teaching XYZ?” The rest of the class looked over at her in surprise.

Shuzo was taken back just a bit, “Well, not much… I can't really teach something I haven’t done. Hasn’t LDS only recently started teaching it? Why do you ask of a sudden?”

Yui hummed to herself, “It’s nothing,” She glanced over at Yuya who’d been already been looking at her, “I was just curious.”

“CHAIRWOMAN HIMEKA!?” Nino’s voice carried from all the way outside.

Everyone ran out to inspect the source of the commotion, “What’s going on out here!?” Shuzo exclaimed. Gongenzaka and Nino were standing outside of the school with a fancy looking car parked in front of them.

“Oh, Hello principal. I, the man, Gongenzaka was out on a jog when I saw Nino and this car outside the school,” Gongenzaka said, explaining how he ended up there.

Hey, Principal Hiiragi!” Nino greeted with a mild panic on her face, poorly masked by a smile.

“Ah, Hanasaki Nino. You’re as boisterous as ever,” A smooth-voiced woman in a maroon colored dress and heels stepped out of the car, “How’s your mother?”

Nino stood up straight, her smile strained, “She’s great! Thanks for asking!”

Shuzo stepped forward, “You… You’re LDS...!”

“That's correct,” The woman gestured to herself, “I am the current chairwoman, Akaba Himeka.”

 _Akaba… So this must be that guy Reiji’s mom or something..._ Yui thought, stepping closer to get a better look at the woman.

‘Not to be rude but, she looks like what a human snake would look like,’ Moonlight said, appearing next Yui, now that she was no longer in class. Yui quickly turned away from the group and slapped a hand over her mouth to muffle her laughter.

Yuzu looked towards Himeka’s car, “Huh? Sawatari?”

Yui turned back to Himaka and saw Sawatari leave the other side of the car along with his four ex-cronies, he looked as if he was walking towards the gallows and didn’t say a word, “Perhaps we should take this inside,” Himeka said, keeping up her pleasant demeanor.

* * *

 Himeka sat on the chair across from them with the LDS boys flanking her on either side as she took a sip of the tea Shuzo prepared for her, “So, Mrs. Akaba. What brings you to our school?”

She raised an eyebrow, “Surely, you have heard about how poorly my students have treated yours?”

“Eh?”

Yui hummed, _Guess he didn't see it online..._

“I see. No matter,” Himeka put her tea down and stood up from the chair, “Principal Hiiragi, My students and I give you all our humblest of apologies for their horrible behavior. Their actions in no way, shape, or form reflect the moral standards of LDS or Leo Corp. Especially Sawatari’s,” Himeka and the five boys bowed deeply towards the group. The boy in question dared not speak.

The You Show kids plus Nino all looked at each other well aware that this woman was probably lying after what Sawatari told them a few days ago, but as per their agreement with him, they didn't mention it. Shuzo held his hands up obviously uncomfortable with such an important woman bowing in front of them, “Hey now, we appreciate it and all, but there’s no need for all that. Everything turned out alright. Didn’t it, kids?”

They agreed reluctantly, even though the four unnamed boys probably weren't sorry for their actions at all.

Himeka straightened up and she gestured for the boys to leave. She turned back to the group and her face became sharper, “Oh, it’s much more than that. Our reputation is at stake. Not only did a student of our top-ranked school use underhanded methods in a duel against another duel school, but he also lost to said school. You Show is the home of Pendulum summoning is it not? Surely, you wouldn’t mind our schools being on friendly terms? It would benefit us both, after all.”

Shuzo’s eyes narrowed, “What do you suggest?”

“A friendly challenge. LDS vs You Show. If we win this little friendly duel, You Show will become a part of LDS as well. Of course, Sakaki’s Yuya’s Pendulum Summoning will become one of our summoning classes as well,” Himeka's smile looked poisonous. 

Yuya became blue in the face at the idea, “W-What did you say!?”

Yuzu took a step forward, “You can't do that!”

“You’re trying to snatch up You Show and make yourselves look good in one fell swoop!?” Gongenzaka exclaimed.

Shuzo sighed and sent a cool gaze Himeka’s way, “From what I’ve heard, you’ve taken over many other Duel Schools around the world. Could this friendly duel be a ploy to add us to your roster, Chairwoman Himeka?”

Himeka smiled, “Do you perhaps doubt me? Does my heartfelt apology on behalf of these students mean nothing to you? Or… do you simply not want to be friendly with us?”

Shuzo leaned forward in his chair, his eyes narrowed, “Chairwoman Himeka… You didn’t plan that underhanded duel against my kids just to pull this off, did you?”

“Oh, heavens, no,” Himeka laughed, “I think you’ve overestimated me, Principal Hiiragi. Though, I will admit that I am taking advantage of the hand I’ve been dealt. We already possess Fusion, Synchro, and XYZ. Adding Pendulum would create a fourth pillar to support our school.”

 _As if LDS really needs the support…_ Yui scoffed to herself.

“What you’ve obtained is an incredible gift and adding it to our curriculum would be allowing other duelists to experience this gift as well. So many of them aspire to Pendulum Summon like Yuya. Surely you all want to as well? Leo Corp can even solve the problem with only Yuya’s cards being capable of Pendulum. Which is why it’s incredibly beneficial for us to become one.” Himeka explained.

“Hold on,” Yui spoke up, surprising herself, “You never mentioned what would happen if You Show won.”

“Ah, Sakaki Yui. You’re correct,” Himeka shifted her legs, “Naturally, your school would not become LDS property, but If you so choose we could grant you some form of support,” Himeka looked around at the school conditions, “I’m sure you’ve been wanting more students and better facilities, right Principal Hiiragi?”

Shuzo looked as if he was trying his hardest not to jump at the offer.

“After all, aside from apologizing, this visit was to garner a friendly relationship with the school that founded Pendulum.”

“We’ll win. I don't want You Show or my Pendulum to be taken away, but we can’t back down. My father created this school to teach Entertainment Duels,” Yuya said, stepping forward. At the mention of their father, Yui’s eyes narrowed a bit. “You say it's friendly but, I don't want to bend and give this school away to someone who thinks they can just do anything they want if they have money and power.”

“Hey, nice speech, Yuya!” Nino cheered, resting her arm his shoulder. Himeka sent an icy look her way and she immediately backed off, “I mean, it was okay...”

“I, the man, Gongenzaka wholeheartedly agree with you, Yuya!” Gongenzaka said, firmly grabbing Yuya’s shoulder, “I’ll fight for You Show’s honor right alongside you!”

“But, you don't even go here,” Sora chimed in, making Gongenzaka freeze up at the realization, “If it’s a fight for You Show’s honor, it should be me, Yuya, Yuzu, and Yui, Right? I wanted to fight an LDS duelist anyway.”

Yui’s face twisted up at the mention of her name, making Himeka turn a suspicious eye her way, “Yeah… I don't know about all that...”

Gongenzaka became red in the face, “Why exclude me?! I’m a close friend of this school!”

“You can take my place,” Yui said patting, Gongenzaka’s back.

“Awwww, no way, Yui! I wanna see you duel for real!” Sora said, sending a fully charged cutesy pout Yui’s way, making her face redden.

_Oh god, he's so cute... Must resist... wait, what does he mean by “for real”?_

Yuzu hummed, “I’m sure Gongenzaka can duel with us too, right? That would make five of us.”

Himeka hummed, “Well, Principal Hiiragi, it seems your students have decided to accept my challenge. What about you?”

Shuzo grinned, as the kids stood behind him, “Of course, I agree. You Show never backs down from a challenge! We’ll show you what we’ve got!”

Himeka pulled out a very high end looking phone and sent out a text, “Well then… Shall we begin?”

* * *

 Himeka and her chosen students, including Sawatari, who looked nervous, stood across from the You show kids in their court.

“Sawatari too?” Yuzu asked. The boy in question waved weakly at them, too afraid to speak with Himeka eyeing him.

Himeka gestured her hand towards him, “Of course. He may be on probation right now, but this is the perfect chance for him to prove that he’s truly sorry.”

Nino pulled out her phone, “Oh, I’m totally gonna record this.”

“And of course Miss Hanasaki will be taking her place at our side as well.”

“Wait, what?” Nino asked in a tone of voice that bordered on whining, “Why, me too?”

“I could mention to your mother about your continued class cutting,” Himeka said, smiling icily.

Nino’s hair stood on end at the thought. She hugged Yui tightly, “I’m sorry, guys!”

Yui sighed despite the slight smile on her face and patted Nino’s head, “I told you to stop cutting your classes.”

She let go of Yui and stuck her tongue out as she walked to LDS’ side of the court, “You’re one to talk!”

Yuya rested his arm on Yui’s shoulder, his face almost touching hers, “She's got a point.”

Yui let out a fake disgusted sound and pushed his face away, “Ugh, get away!”

“Anyway,” Himeka began, “This will be a Five VS Five match. The first to get three wins is the victor. I’m sure that’s okay with you. So, who will go first?”

Nino pulled out her phone as if she’d just pulled Excalibur from its rock, “We can randomize it! I totally got an app for that.”

“Hmm. I don’t see why not,” Himeka said.

The boy with spiky brown hair looked in her direction, “Well, if that how it is, my name is-”

“Yeah, don't worry about that I already know all your names, Yaiba,” Nino said quickly, making Yaiba flinch back in an offended manner. After tapping away at her phone Nino thrust her phone out for everyone to see. With a little ding, the match-ups appeared, “And Bam! Totally random match-ups.”

 **Sakaki Yuya vs. Shijima Hokuto**  
**Todo Yaiba vs. Gongenzaka Noboru**  
**Hiiragi Yuzu vs. Kotsu Masumi**  
**Sawatari Shingo vs. Shiunin Sora**  
**Sakaki Yui vs. Hanasaki Nino**

“Hey, I’m first!” Yuya cheered.

“Awww… I wanted to be first,” Sora whined.

Himeka chuckled, “It’s a good thing you were chosen first, Yuya. Those four don’t seem very reliable.”

“Hey! What’re you talking about, old lady! You don't even know how strong I am!” Sora yelled, fuming.

Yuzu patted his head, smiling, “That’s enough of that.”

“You should think twice before expecting that you’ll win easily,” Himeka said, “They’re Junior Youth class Duelists, but these three are also the aces of LDS. Nino ranks close to them as well, even with her cutting class and Sawatari is an LDS student after all. And Yuya, your opponent is...”

The purple haired boy with a constellation headband stepped forward. “Shijima Hokuto, LDS’ XYZ course member.”

Tatsuya pulled up his records, “His winning percentage is over 90%?! I heard he’s a favorite to win the Championship!”

“That’s nothing to be afraid of! Show him what you’ve got, Yuya!” Shuzo cheered supportively.

* * *

 Shuzo dramatically activated the field from his booth, “Activate Field Magic - Cosmo Sanctuary! Use the power of the stars to win this, Yuya!”

Hokuto looked around at the field and started laughing in a pompous way, “Wow! You ended picking a field that fits me perfectly!”

“What?!” Shuzo looked shell shocked.

“He literally has a star headband on...” Yui said, with a heavy sigh.

Yuya activated his duel disk, “It’s no big deal. I’ll use Dad’s dueling to win and protect You Show!”

Yui scoffed, catching Yuzu’s attention, “Dad’s dueling, he says… He’s not even here.”

“Yui, are you-” Yuzu began before being cut off by the dueling chant.

“Duelists locked in battle! Kicking against the earth and dancing in the air alongside their monsters! They storm through this field! Behold! This is the newest and greatest evolution of dueling!"

"ACTION... DUEL!" Cards suddenly appeared and scattered across the field.

“Hey, Yui,” Nino whispered, with Sawatari close behind her, “I got something super important to talk to you guys about. About that XYZ duelist.”

Yui’s eyes widened, “What?”

“If we go right now we can totally make it back before our duels. I asked Ayu to record everything,” Nino whispered.

“Hmm… I actually wanted to see this duel, Nino,” Yui said.

Nino pouted, “Boo… You don't have to see that. Hokuto is a jerk anyway. He’s that annoying guy in my class I told you about. Trust me, I’m saving you from having to listen to him talk,” She grabbed Yui and Sawatari’s hands and tried to slink away without being noticed.

Himeka eyed the three kids who were trying to escape, “Just where are you three going?” Attention was now on them.

“Yknow, teen things,” Yui answered, flatly. Himeka raised an eyebrow at that.

Nino chimed in with a fake smile, “Yeah, that’s why I was here in the first place, Miss Akaba! Don't worry, we’ll be right back!” With that, Nino pulled her two friends out of the school.

Sawatari let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding when they stepped out of the school, “Oh thank god, I’m out of there. Chairwoman Himeka is terrifying.”

Nino let out a groan, “I know right?”

“So, what did you want to talk about? Did you see that XYZ duelist again?” Yui asked, getting a little worked up.

Nino held her hands up, “Hold on, hold on! This first!” She pulled out a pink envelope and handed it to Yui, “Happy Birthday!”

Yui blinked incredulously, taking the envelope, “It’s not my birthday.”

“I know that! Just open it! I came over here to tell you about that XYZ duelist and to give you that!” Nino was bouncing on the balls of her feet while Sawatari looked on mild interest.

Yui’s surprised face melted into suspicion and back into surprise as she opened up the envelope and she saw what was inside. Four duel monsters cards, two black and two purple fell into her hand, ”Fusion and XYZ cards?”

Nino grinned proudly, “Yeah! I think your archetype is super rare or something, so I had mom get these made for you. It was supposed to be for your birthday but, I figured now would be a better time.”

“Hey, where’s my card present?” Sawatari asked, with a grin.

Nino narrowed her eyes and scoffed at him. She turned her face to hide the slight redness in her cheeks, that didn’t go unnoticed by Yui, “You’re archetype changes too often. You’ll be getting no cards from me, Sawatari Shingo.”

“Oh, woe is me...” Sawatari dramatically covered his eyes with his arm, making Nino giggle.

Yui looked down at the brightly colored girls illustrated on the cards and smiled warmly, she already knew what Nino was trying to say with this present. ‘I know you don’t want to duel right now, but I hope you’ll try.’ She wanted to try. She wanted to be as passionate about dueling as everyone else.

She really wanted to stop hiding everything.

“Thanks, Nino...”

Nino looked over at her, “What was th-” She was cut off by Yui pulling her into a tight hug.

“I said thanks…I’ll- I’ll try,” Yui whispered.

A huge smile appeared on Nino's face and wrapped her arms around Yui, “Aw, Yui!”

Yui laughed, “What would I do without you?”

“I know. You are pretty lucky to have me aren't you?” Nino looked back at Sawatari, who felt a bit like an outsider watching them, “You too.”

Sawatari and Yui rolled their eyes at Nino, “So, what’s this about the XYZ duelist?” Yui asked, putting her present away into her deck.

“Right, Right! Okay so, the XYZ duelist,” Nino reached into her purse and pulled out a folded piece of paper, which she excitedly unfolded. She held up a pretty well-drawn sketch of the purple and black haired duelist they’d seen only a few days ago. Unfortunately for Yui, it was drawn with a mask covering most his nose and mouth, “I drew this from memory!”

Sawatari and Yui examined the picture, “Wow, this is pretty decent. It looks just like him.”

“Watch out Sawatari, her head might inflate and fly away,” Yui’s tone was flat despite the grin on her face, “So what’s the portrait for?”

“Well, I showed this my operatives and had them look out for someone who looked like this-”

Sawatari blanched, “You have _operatives_?”

“You’d be surprised what boys will do for a girl as cute as me,” Nino grinned. Sawatari made a face at that, which didn’t go unnoticed by Yui, “Anyway! I asked them to take a picture if they ever saw anyone who looked like him anywhere. Kinda emo, dark clothes, masks, XYZ duelist. He definitely doesn’t go to LDS, by the way.” She pulled out her phone and started flipping through pictures, “Check these out!”

Sawatari and Yui looked down at the photos in a folder titled “Emo Boy” and they were all of the purple haired XYZ duelist sneaking around the city. In some of them, a masked girl who had long purple hair was with him.

_Oh, I vaguely remember seeing this girl somewhere…_

“A lot of these pictures were taken around the harbor. I dunno why he’s around there all the time,” Nino said shifting her weight and shrugging a bit, “I wanted to go explore the harbor today but, Chairwoman Himeka went and roped us into this “friendly” duel.”

“Why exactly are we looking for this XYZ guy again?” Sawatari asked, with an eyebrow raised, “I’m not completely against it since I used to hang out there in one of the warehouses, but it just seems kinda...”

Yui and Nino looked at each other, fully aware of the fact that they couldn’t tell him why they’re looking for this guy. Yui’s face twisted into confusion, “You used to hang out in a warehouse? That’s really shady.”

Sawatari folded his arms, “Wh- No, it’s not! We had a couch and everything! Hey, don’t change the subject, Yui!”

She feigned innocence and shrugged, “I wanna rematch him, Shingo! He pulled that disappearing trick on me and ran off to who knows where before I could beat him,” Nino chimed in. Sawatari still looked unconvinced, “Cmooooon! It’ll be a 30-minute adventure! We’ll be back way before your duel even starts!”

“...Y’know, If you don’t wanna come along you can always go back inside with the Chairwoman,” Yui added.

Sawatari froze, “I’m in.”

“Yay!”

* * *

 “Thanks, Sosuke. We’ll bring Nino right back.” Yui said to the older grey haired driver of a classy black car as Nino bounced out.

“You’re very welcome, Miss Sakaki. But, I don't know if this is the safest place for you all to hang out,” Worry was etched on the old man’s aged face.

Nino waved off his worry, “We’re just gonna look around a little and leave, Sosuke. We only have about 20 minutes or so before we should probably head back to You Show depending how on long the duels go, anyway,”

“Yeah, we’re not Sawatari who hangs around in warehouses like some sort of degenerate,” Yui said, grinning a bit.

The boy in question groaned, “You guys just aren’t going to let me live that down, huh?”

“Nope.” Nino and Yui said simultaneously.

The trio walked around the harbor and into the area where the warehouses were, Nino had an uninterested look on her face, “Man, this place is kinda lame. Just boats and warehouses... You and your followers used to hang out here?”

“No,“ Sawatari replied, indignantly, “We hung out in the wareho- You know what, I’ll just show you. C’mon.”

They quickly arrived at a warehouse with “NO.52” written above it and Sawatari swung his arm dramatically in front of them when he opened up the door, “Here we are.”

Yui wasn't expecting much from a warehouse, but it actually wasn't that bad, “Yknow, I was expecting this to be more like, dank. But, it’s actually kinda cozy."

Nino placed a hand on his shoulder and smiled at him, “Don’t worry, Shingo you can hang out in my basement with me and Yui. We got bean bag chairs! And sometimes Yuzu and Yuya come by.”

Sawatari sighed, despite the smile on his face, “Thanks...”

Yui approached the table further into the warehouse, “These yours?”

Sawatari and Nino approached the table, take out boxes, a map of Miami City and some paper with various writings were scattered on it, “These look recently used. But, I don’t think it was those guys were here.”

_A map of the city? Weird..._

Before Yui could reach for anything on the table the door opened and like lightning, the three turned their heads towards it, “It’s been over three days since we’ve seen him, Yu-”

The black and purple haired XYZ duelist along with the same purple haired girl in the pictures stopped short and stared at them for a second before getting their bearings. The boy no longer had on his cape and his mask was replaced with a fabric one with a cat mouth on it, while the girl had one with a smile and blushing cheeks.

“YOU!” Nino exclaimed. Yuto would have yelled too had he not caught Yui’s eyes first. He’d merely glanced at her during their last encounter and felt something familiar then, but it was different this time. Yui was staring back at him in a trance-like state as something pulsated through them for a moment. Ruri looked between the two of them in confusion.

_What the HELL was that!?_

“You owe me a rematch!” Nino exclaimed, a grin now plastered on her face.

“I actually didn’t expect that we’d find him here,” Yui said, snapping from her stupor.

“Me neither,” Sawatari replied.

“Yuto? Who’re they? What does she mean by a Rematch?” Ruri raised an eyebrow and her voice was laced with suspicion.

Yuto groaned, shutting his eyes and pinching the bridge of his nose, “She’s the XYZ duelist from LDS I told you about.”

Ruri eyes widened and presumably, a smile appeared under her face mask as she clasped her hands together, “Oh!”

“How about we start with some sort of introduction, yeah? Since you guys seem to be using my warehouse hangout,” Sawatari stepped forward, just the slightest bit peeved that other people have been using his hideout. Of course, that melted away with his introduction, “This vision of beauty is named Sawatari Shingo~”

Nino took a half step away from Sawatari with a slightly grossed out look on her face, “I’m Hanasaki Nino.”

“Sakaki Yui,” Yui gave a small wave. Ruri blinked, feeling as if she’d heard that name before.

“Oh, was this yours? No one had come by in a while so we figured it was abandoned,” Yuto said, looking over at Ruri and back to Sawatari. He sighed a bit and removed his mask, making Sawatari and Nino’s eyes nearly pop out of their skulls, “My name’s Akamine Yuto.”

 _I KNEW IT!_ Yui’s mind was going a mile a minute,  _I KNEW I WASN'T SEEING THINGS!_

Ruri followed suit and removed her own mask, making Yui’s face blank in confusion, “My name is Kurosaki Ruri.”

The two, now unmasked, teens looked just like Yuzu and Yuya! Albeit a few fairly obvious differences like hair and eye colors as well as eye shapes and heights.

“Y-You… you guys look like…” Nino couldn’t even finish her sentence.

Ruri noticed the flabbergasted looks on the trio’s faces and became worried, “Uhm… are you guys okay?”

“You two look exactly like Yuya and Yuzu! Yui was right!” Sawatari exclaimed in his usual dramatics.

As much as Yui liked being proved right, Ruri looking like Yuzu was actually a huge shock. What on earth was going on? Did her brother and Yuzu have a fraternal twin? What were the odds they both had some estranged twin anyway? Is that why Yuto could make the wind in his duel with Nino real? Was Yuto her brother? What was that pulsating feeling when she looked at him?

“We what?” Ruri asked, a bit confused.

Nino, who seemed to get over her shock the fastest answered her, “I-It’s just that you two are like, almost the spitting image of our friends and Yui’s brother,” Nino expertly reached into Yui’s pocket, pulled out her phone and unlocked it.

“Excuse you.”

Nino approached the two and showed them a candid picture of Yuzu and Yuya laughing about something. Ruri and Yuto froze, “That is... strange,” Ruri managed to open her mouth and say. Yuto was about to say something as well when the phone started playing music.

‘Idiot Brother’ is what showed up on the caller ID along with a radial blurred picture of Yuya making a goofy face.

Nino looked down at the phone and tossed it back to Yui. She quickly caught and answered it, recognizing the ringtone, “Yuya?”

‘Yui where are you guys? Yuzu’s duel’s already started!’ Yuya sounded worried.

“Ah, Crap,” Yui said, flatly.

“What’s wrong, it’s not my turn yet, is it?” Sawatari asked, freaking out a bit.

“No, Yuzu’s already started dueling, though.”

Nino eyes widened, “Have we been here that long?”

“Alright, Alright. We’ll be there before her duel ends,” Yui said sighing a bit. Yuya abruptly ended the call and at that moment, Marine appeared next to Yui, making Yui’s eyes widen a bit.

‘Yui! Don’t put your phone down yet!’ She yelled, quickly. Her arms were waving up and down wildly.

“W-What is it?” Yui asked turning to face Marine as if she was still on the phone with Yuya. It wouldn't be the first time she’d pretended to be on the phone, so she could speak to her spirits without looking weird.

‘Moonlight says there’s something really, really weird about those two that she can’t place. Especially the boy,’ Marine said.

“I mean, I probably could’ve told you that..,” Yui’s eyes moved from Marine’s, now pouting, face to Yuto and Ruri. Ruri merely watched the three of them curiously while Yuto’s eyes were no longer on her, Nino or even Sawatari. They were staring directly where Marine was floating and his face looked thoroughly confused.

_He… He can’t see Marine, can he?_

Marine turned her head towards the other teens and Yuto flinched back a bit.

_He can see Marine! Oh my god!_

“Okay, Yuya. I have to go,” Yui said to no one as she tried her hardest to compose herself. What exactly should she do with this information? She wanted to jump up and yell in excitement. She looked back at Marine and whispered, “Check before we go,” Marine nodded.

Nino got closer to Yui, “So we’ve gotta head back right now?”

“Yeah, we probably should.”

Ruri stepped forward, “Before you go, Uhm… Sawatari, was it? You wouldn’t mind if we kept using your warehouse, would you? Just for a bit. Yuto and I don’t have anywhere to go right now,” Ruri gave a sad smile. What she just said told them a lot about her and Yuto’s current living situation.

Were Yuto and Ruri homeless? The trio’s eyes widened and they looked at each other. Naturally, it was Sawatari’s call, ”Sure, I don’t mind. I doubt I would've been using this place much longer anyway,” he shrugged.

Ruri’s eyes lit up and she clasped her hands together, “Oh, thank you! We’ll take good care of it, right Yuto? Yuto?”

“Wait- Huh?” Yuto had been staring at Marine, who had yet to disappear, “Sure, of course.”

“Okay, well this was fun but gotta head back to You Show,” Nino announced.

Ruri tilted her head, “You Show?”

Yui walked towards them, “It’s my Duel School. We’re actually very late for a duel. So we kind of have to hurry.”

Nino grabbed Sawatari and Yui’s wrists and walked past them hurrying towards the door, “You guys should come by sometime, It’s way more fun than LDS!” That comment made Ruri smile.

Ruri turned back to the table with all their materials, “They’re pretty nice. I feel like I’ve heard Sakaki’s name somewhere before, though...”

At that moment, Marine floated away from the group as they left and floated right up to Yuto’s face making him step back, ‘Hey, can you see me?!’ To which he nodded nervously, ‘Yui! He said yeah!’

Yui, who could clearly hear Marine’s loud voice from outside the warehouse, facepalmed, _Jeez, you could have been more subtle!_

* * *

 The trio reached the car in record time, much to Sosuke’s relief and was back at You Show.

“That was wild,” Nino said, before rubbing her face on Yui’s shoulder as they walked up to the school, “Yuiiiii! I’m so sorry I didn’t believe you!”

“Me too,” Sawatari said, walking next to the girls, “You never met them before right?”

Yui shook her head, “Nope. Never. Actually, I didn’t realize Ruri looked like Yuzu until she took off her mask.”

"You think they're twins? Or like, Doppelgangers?" Nino balled up her fists in excitement, ”Hey, do you think we have some lookalikes floating around?”

Sawatari thought for a moment as they walked into You Show. They didn’t notice the hooded figure hiding from them, “Probably not in Miami City. Yuto and Ruri seem like they’re from out of town.”

“I do hope they come around. It would be funny to see Yuya and Yuzu’s faces,” Yui said, hiding a bit of a smile on her face, trying to mask her excited thoughts. 

_I have to go see him again! He’s like me! On top of that, he duels just fine without hurting anyone._

When the three of them walked in the viewing room, everyone turned to them with surprised looks.

Yaiba looked over at Sawatari and Nino and grinned smugly, “Looks like someone took their sweet time.”

“Hey, mind your business!” Nino huffed, effectively shutting him up.

Yuya spoke up, “Where did you guys go? You missed me and Gongenzaka’s duel! Not to mention just about all of Yuzu’s.”

Yui stepped forward, “I’m really sorry, I missed your duels. There was something really important we had to do.”

Yuya’s eyebrows furrowed, “More important than protecting the school our dad started?”

Yui scoffed, her eyes narrowing dangerously at Yuya, “Okay! Let’s see how Yuzu’s duel is going instead!” Nino hooked her arm around Yui’s and turned her towards the duel, as if she already had an idea of what Yui might have said next, “Calm down...” She whispered to her.

“Sooo… How’s Yuzu’s duel going?” Nino asked, turning her head back to everyone else.

“Yuzu just took 2600 damage,” Tatsuya answered, worriedly.

“Don’t worry, She’s still got life points left,” Gongenzaka made a fist in encouragement, “She can still win this, Yuzu’s been doing well this whole time.”

“I’m not so sure about all that,” Sora said, leaning back against the wall. With closed eyes he took another bite into his pocky, “It’s pretty much over at this point,” Instead of countering his statement, they all turned back to the duel.

“Gem-Knight Crystal’s second effect!” Yuzu, who was down on one knee looked up at Masumi and her monster, “It can attack twice during the battle phase!”

“What?!” Yuya exclaimed.

Gongenzaka gaped, “That means Yuzu will-”

“-Lose...” The kids whined.

“That’s what I meant when I said it’s pretty much over,” Sora said with a strange smile on his face. Almost as he was looking down on the duels from a distance.

As Masumi called out her attack Yuzu spotted an action card and rushed for it, but when her hand finally reached it, she’d touched a reflective pillar instead, “You were deceived by a reflection of the crystals? It looks like you have a long way to go, Hiiragi Yuzu,” Masumi’s monster fired a yellow beam of light, knocking Yuzu off her feet and her life points down to 0.

“And after all that, she still ended up losing,” Sora pouted, eating another Pocky stick, as Yuya ran into the arena.

“Yuzu!” Yuya called as Yuzu got up from the arena floor, “Are you hurt?”

Yuzu shook her head sadly, “No, I’m fine...” She put her head on Yuya’s chest and he put an arm around her waist. She wanted to cry so badly but wouldn’t dare in front of Masumi and the others. A few slip-ups cost her the duel and it made Yuzu feel miserable.

Yui and Nino gawked at the two. Was there some sort of new development between Yuzu and Yuya while they were gone or was Yuzu finally admitting to the obvious? Yui examined Nino’s face and she didn’t look nearly as upset as she would have last week. _I wonder what changed…_ Yui thought sarcastically. She hummed and turned back to the affectionate spectacle going on in the arena.

“You two are giving us quite the show,” Masumi said, smiling smugly. Yuzu looked over at Masumi then back to Yuya. Her face flushed red and she pushed Yuya away, knocking him over.

“Hey, where’d that come from?” Yuya complained, rubbing his backside.

“Ah, sorry Yuya. I just, uh… It was such an important duel and I…” Yuzu looked down, “...just wasn't good enough,”

Yuya put his hands on Yuzu’s shoulders, “Hey, now. It’s okay. You did great. Besides, we’ve still got Sora and Yui. All they have to do is win the next duels.”

“You think it’s just that easy?” Masumi asked, with a raised eyebrow, “You may have won with your pendulum, but Hanasaki and Sawatari are still LDS students despite being slackers. I can't imagine that little kid and that disinterested looking girl could actually pull off a win.”

Yui narrowed her eyes at Masumi, _A bit presumptuous are we? I didn't intend to lose before, but now I definitely have to win._

“Big bro Yuya won, Big sis Yuzu lost and Gongenzaka tied,” Ayu recapped as Yuzu and Yuya left the arena.

“So we’re tied overall,” Tatsuya said.

“Speaking of which, Ayu did you record the duels for me?” Nino asked.

Ayu reached into her little pocket and handed Nino her phone, “Yeah, I propped it up on the window to get everything. I can send them to you later.”

“Awesome! See, Yui? And you were so worried about missing Yuya's duel. I told you, It’d be fine!” Nino said patting Yui’s shoulder.

Yuya looked over at Nino and Yui after hearing that, “Yui, you...”

Yui glanced back at him and back to the arena, “Whatever, It’s Sora and Sawatari’s turn to duel, right?”

“Yay! It’s finally my turn!” Sora cheered, getting up from the wall.

Sawatari looked over at Sora and a single bead of sweat ran down his face. He had no idea what to make of this kid, “Right.”

“I know you’re used to it, but don’t lose, Sawatari,” Hokuto said, smugly.

Masumi over at him, mirroring his smug smile, “You’re one to talk after losing and ruining your streak,” Hokuto went blue in the face and crouched in the corner in embarrassment.

Sawatari and Sora and stood on opposite sides of the field, “Let’s make this fun Sawatari!” Sora pulled out his duel disk.

“Duelists locked in battle! Kicking against the earth and dancing in the air alongside their monsters! They storm through this field! Behold! This is the newest and greatest evolution of dueling!"

"ACTION... DUEL!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I drew an updated pic of Yui and made it my profile pic if you wanna see the changes I made to Yui's hair. :D 
> 
> (I can't figure out how to put it in the fic)


End file.
